Households using high-speed NBN plans on fibre to the premises or hybrid fibre coaxial connections are now experiencing faster internet speeds following NBN Co’s recent network upgrades, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest Measuring Broadband Australia report.

In September 2025, NBN Co increased wholesale speeds for selected NBN plans delivered over FTTP and HFC connections at no additional charge to retailers. The upgrade did not apply to other NBN connection types.

The speed increases applied to NBN Home Fast, NBN Home Superfast and NBN Home Ultrafast plans. These plans previously offered speeds of 100/20 Mbps, 250/25 Mbps and 1000/50 Mbps and have now been lifted to 500/50 Mbps, 750/50 Mbps and 1000/100 Mbps respectively.

The ACCC found that the higher wholesale speeds have largely been passed through to retail customers. As a result, most households using the upgraded plans on FTTP or HFC connections are now accessing faster internet speeds.

“Our latest report has found that the recent changes to certain high-speed NBN plans have now been passed on to retail customers, meaning that most households that use the upgraded plans on a FTTP or HFC connection are now accessing faster internet speeds,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

Anna Brakey, ACCC.

The upgraded NBN Home Fast plan, now offering 500/50 Mbps, was the most popular high-speed NBN fixed-line plan among the services monitored in the report. During busy hours between 7 pm and 11 pm on weekdays, the average download speed on this plan was 503.9 Mbps. Around 80.5 per cent of services achieved an average busy hour download speed exceeding 500 Mbps.

While many FTTP and HFC services consistently recorded download speeds in line with the upgraded plan limits, the report identified a small proportion of underperforming connections. These services rarely, if ever, reached speeds close to their new plan limits.

According to the ACCC, these performance issues may be linked to in-home equipment constraints rather than the NBN network itself. Older Wi-Fi routers, for example, may not support download speeds of 100 Mbps or higher.

“Consumers that are using older Wi-Fi routers may be missing out on the faster download speeds that are available on their upgraded plan,” Ms Brakey said.

“We encourage consumers to contact their retailer if they are not able to access the higher download speeds despite their plan being upgraded. We expect retailers to help customers understand if either their router or the network is preventing them from accessing the full speeds of their selected plan.”

Ms Brakey also noted that while the upgraded high-speed plans benefit large households with heavy broadband usage, many consumers may achieve better value from lower-cost plans offering 25 Mbps or 50 Mbps, depending on household needs.

Households connected via fibre to the node or fibre to the curb did not see any change to broadband speeds. For these connection types, the maximum available download speed remains 100 Mbps.

“Consumers with FTTN or FTTC connections that would like faster internet speeds should contact their internet provider to check if their NBN connection is eligible for an upgrade to FTTP,” Ms Brakey said.

The report also highlighted improved performance on Starlink’s satellite network. Average busy hour upload speeds increased from 30.6 Mbps in the previous quarter to 46.2 Mbps, while average busy hour download speeds rose from 189.3 Mbps to 197.2 Mbps.