NBN Co has reduced its annual losses to $963 million after the Albanese government provided $1.19 billion in additional equity funding to upgrade Australia’s internet infrastructure, as the network operator accelerates its transition to full-fibre connections.

The taxpayer-funded company trimmed losses by 10% in the year to June 30, while overall revenue increased 4% to $5.7 billion and underlying earnings jumped 8% to $4.2 billion.

The government’s equity injection represented a 54% increase from 2024 funding levels.

Chief Executive Ellie Sweeney said NBN Co’s strategy of upgrading to full fibre is “delivering for customers, businesses and the nation.”

The number of homes and businesses connected via fibre to the premises surged 23% to 2.665 million, making it the dominant fixed-line technology on the network.

NBN Co remains on track to complete its initial five-year fibre connect program by December 2025 on time and on budget.

Almost 9.8 million premises can now order the highest speed residential products, with this figure expected to grow to more than 10 million premises by December, representing 90% of the fixed-line network.

The company will upgrade its 100 Mbps wholesale speed tier to offer 500 Mbps download speeds in September, alongside launching multi-gigabit wholesale residential products through participating retailers.

Sweeney said NBN Co aims for the 500 Mbps tier to become Australia’s most popular broadband plan.

From mid-2026, NBN Co will offer low-earth orbit satellite broadband services via Amazon’s Project Kuiper, replacing the current Sky Muster geostationary satellite service.

Project Kuiper will deliver speeds of approximately 400 Mbps, compared to Starlink’s current 220 Mbps offering, both significantly faster than Sky Muster’s capabilities.

Despite increased government funding, NBN Co’s total debt rose from $26.89 billion to $27.16 billion.

However, the company improved its debt ratio from 9.9 to 9.3 times EBITDA, indicating better financial management relative to earnings.

Residential average revenue per user increased $3 to $50 per month, driven by growing demand for higher speed products and regulated wholesale price changes approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

NBN Co’s expansion has drawn criticism from commercial rival TPG Telecom, which accused the company of overbuilding infrastructure in Canberra.

The ACT upgrades cost almost $6,600 per premises, totalling more than $640 million for approximately 97,000 businesses and homes.

TPG’s Andrew O’Connor argued the upgrades were unnecessary given the existing commercial infrastructure from Vision Network, which Macquarie-backed Vocus acquired for $5.25 billion and can provide up to 1 Gbps connection speeds.

NBN Co defended the upgrades as supporting competition and delivering faster internet speeds.

Sweeney emphasised NBN’s responsibility to deliver digital infrastructure critical for how Australians “work, learn, connect and grow in the future,” describing the goal as turning “investment into impact, innovation into inclusion, and infrastructure into opportunity.”