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nbn® Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program

Last updated 01st November 2022

About the program

The nbn Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program, a $750 million investment in the fixed wireless network of which the Australian Government has contributed $480 million, will significantly expand the coverage and uplift wholesale speeds1  available on the fixed wireless network, benefiting thousands of homes and businesses across the country.

These improvements will make it easier to work remotely, access digital services as well as connect with loved ones and access entertainment. For businesses, it will be easier to participate in the digital and global economy and to benefit from innovative technology, such as the Internet of Things and smart farming.

Photo of an nbn technician doing work at a fixed wireless tower.

The program will

  • Extend nbn Fixed Wireless: Enhanced coverage and extended maximum range for some nbn Fixed Wireless towers resulting in expansion of the nbn Fixed Wireless footprint coverage by up to 50 per cent enabling approximately 120,000 former satellite-only eligible premises to access nbn Fixed Wireless services.
  • Improve nbn Fixed Wireless typical wholesale busy hour speed2: nbn Fixed Wireless network improvements are expected to allow the network to achieve ‘typical wholesale busy period speeds’ of at least 50Mbps (download).
  • Faster Fixed Wireless wholesale speeds3: Following consultation and launch, nbn proposes that all homes and businesses in the expanded nbn Fixed Wireless footprint will be able to order retail services via their service provider with potential maximum wholesale download speeds of up to 100Mbps. Additionally, it is anticipated 85 per cent of the expanded footprint will also be able to order services with potential maximum wholesale download speeds of up to 250 Mbps, which is up to three times faster than the highest wholesale speeds available on nbn Fixed Wireless today.
  • Enhanced data limits and network performance on nbn Sky Muster: For the homes and small businesses that remain on nbn Satellite, nbn Sky Muster Plus is now unmetered for all activities including video streaming4 and virtual private network use for 16hrs a day (12am midnight – 4pm). The monthly data quota is now only needed for video streaming and VPN use between 4pm-12am midnight - as all other online activities continue to not to count towards the monthly allowance5,6.
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We've started

We have started works and expect the rollout to be complete by December 2024 (subject to further assessment through the detailed planning process).

Information about when, where, and how these improvements will be rolled out will be available over the coming months.

Frequently asked questions

nbn predicts a 300 per cent rise in customer demand for the Fixed Wireless network over the next ten years. This will naturally create additional demand on the nbn Fixed Wireless network and hence the benefit of the upgrades.  ​

To deliver the exciting benefits of the Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program, nbn will install next generation 4G and 5G equipment on nbn Fixed Wireless towers that will significantly increase capacity, providing a step change in performance.

Generally, customers will be able to continue to use their service as they currently do during the Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program. However, when nbn performs upgrade works on a tower, or the transmission links that connect the tower with the rest of the nbn network, users in the surrounding area may experience several planned service outages ranging in duration from 3-4 minutes up to 12 hours.

To minimise disruption to customers, nbn aims to perform tower upgrade works between 10:00pm and 10:00am on weeknights, or where necessary between 6:00am and 6:00pm on weekends. Completing upgrade works on a tower will usually require a total of 3-4 planned service outages occurring over a 1–2 week period.

In addition, customers may experience one or more planned service outages when nbn completes upgrade works to transmission links. nbn aims to perform these upgrade works between 12:00am and 9:00am on weeknights, or where necessary between 6:00am and 6:00pm on weekends.

Occasionally upgrade work on towers and transmission links may need to be completed outside these times.

nbn recommends you contact your preferred phone and internet provider, and your current device provider, about whether your services, and/or the compatibility of your devices will be impacted.
The good news is nbn has already commenced works to deliver the Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program. The Program is expected to be complete by December 2024.
nbn also ​shares details of Planned Outages with phone and internet providers who may communicate the details of these Planned Outages with their customers.
The current maximum range for nbn Fixed Wireless connections is just over 14 km. This is due to a technology limitation related to the time it takes Fixed Wireless signals (transmitted as radio waves) to travel through the air. With new software innovations, however, nbn has tested reliable connections at much longer distances and plans to extend the range out to at least 29 km in many areas (this may not always be possible due to the topography or other factors).  
One of the innovations central to the Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program is the leveraging of new hardware and software updates to increase the coverage and performance of the network from existing tower locations.
nbn will provide more details on the locations and timing of when eligible customers can move from nbn Satellite to nbn Fixed Wireless once available.

The nbn Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program will be completed and released progressively over what we anticipate will be a 2.5 year construction timeline, completing in December 2024. Some elements of the network upgrade will be completed in 2022, with major site works having already commenced. 

Consultation with Industry on the proposed nbn Fixed Wireless High-Speed Tiers has commenced. Further details on the High-Speed Tiers, including launch will be shared publicly once available.

Retail pricing is determined by phone and internet providers. Pricing of existing wholesale speed tiers will not change for either Satellite or nbn Fixed Wireless as part of the Upgrade Program. 

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Important notes
1
Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn network, depends on the nbn access network technology and configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside nbn’s control (like your equipment quality, software, broadband plan, signal reception, and (with the exception of Sky Muster Plus™) how your service provider designs its network). Speeds may also be impacted by the number of concurrent users on the nbn Fixed Wireless network, including during busy periods. 
2
This measure will be an estimate based on a sample of nbn Fixed Wireless wholesale services and will measure the average speed at certain points in each hour of the busy period between 7-11pm to identify a ‘typical busy period speed’, in line with the methodology outlined in the ACCC’s Broadband Speed Claims Industry Guidance Paper (October 2020). For each sample measured it will take into account factors outside of nbn’s control such as environmental impact on radio signal strength, but will not take into account retail level, in-premises or user factors that could impact the end user service. Actual end user speeds will differ as a number of factors influence this, including the particular end user applications in use at the time, end user equipment and software, and the number of concurrent users on the nbn® Fixed Wireless service. This means that this measure is not the same as, but is likely to be similar to, the connection’s capability (if retail level and end user influences are minimal). Currently nbn publicly reports on a network design metric that influences its cell upgrade program (which prioritises cells for upgrades to ensure a minimum 30 day average busy hour wholesale download speed of 6Mbps on at least 99% of cells), but which is not referable to end user experience. 
3

nbn is a wholesaler and end customers should contact their preferred service provider to ask about availability. The planned wholesale download speeds for Fixed Wireless Home Fast and Fixed Wireless Superfast are Peak Information Rates, with peak wholesale download speeds of 100 – 130Mbps for Fixed Wireless Home Fast and 200-325Mbps for Fixed Wireless Superfast.

4
Most video streaming, between 4pm – 12am midnight, counts towards your monthly data allowance, but embedded streaming video content on certain social media platforms, including on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and LinkedIn, is uncapped. 
5
Exclusions and fair use conditions apply. If you’re accessing your connection via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) between 4pm and 12am midnight, all activities will count towards your monthly data allowance even those specified above as ‘uncapped data activities’. For more information on which internet activities are uncapped, which traffic may be shaped to proactively protect the nbn access and ensure fair access to the network for all users, and exclusions, visit nbnco.com.au/skymuster-plus or speak to your internet service provider. For details on fair use conditions, contact your internet service provider.
6

Note that, to proactively protect and ensure the fair access to the nbn access network for all users, nbn may from time to time, at its discretion, shape the following uncapped data activities to maximum wholesale upload and download speeds of 256kbps:  

  • uploads and downloads via peer to peer; 
  • uploads and downloads to cloud storage platforms; 
  • PC and smartphone operating system updates; 
  • software/application updates; 
  • gaming software updates; 
  • any other uncapped data related to applications which nbn cannot identify.

Other uncapped data activity that nbn considers may cause adverse network impacts may also be added to the above list to be shaped, including streaming video and VPN outside of 4pm and 12am midnight.