NBN Co has defended its $640 million fibre upgrade across Canberra, rejecting claims from TPG Telecom that it is overbuilding the network in an already well-served area.

The government-owned network operator insists the investment is essential to support growing demand for faster, more reliable internet.

The upgrade, part of NBN’s broader fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) replacement initiative, will see around 97,000 Canberra homes and businesses upgraded to full fibre at an average cost of $6600 per premises – one of the highest in the country due to the region’s rocky terrain and backyard power poles.

TPG, which recently offloaded its Vision Network to Vocus for $5.25 billion, argues the investment is wasteful, claiming its existing infrastructure already offers gigabit speeds.

CEO Inaki Berroeta also reignited criticism of the Regional Broadband Scheme, which he says forces Australians to pay an “NBN tax” of around $8 per month to subsidise NBN Co’s rural losses.

However, NBN maintains the upgrade will future-proof the capital, with new connections offering double the current maximum speeds.

From September 14, consumers on FTTP and HFC connections will have access to new “hyperfast” NBN 2000 plans, offering theoretical download speeds of 2Gbps and uploads of up to 200Mbps.

More than half of the 622,000 premises in NBN’s current fibre upgrade program are in regional areas.

The company insists that the investment is necessary to avoid commercial providers cherry-picking profitable urban markets, at the expense of national connectivity goals.

Despite the criticism, consumers may benefit from the competition.

With new high-speed tiers on the horizon and upgrades underway, Canberra is set to become one of the best-connected regions in the country.