NBN Co’s draft plan for the first phase of its next regulatory period (FY27-FY29), released yesterday, outlines expectations for a significant ramp-up in fibre upgrades.

By the end of FY29, NBN Co aims to complete over 500,000 full-fibre connections annually, up from around 285,000 in FY24.

While the company will wrap up its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) overbuilds, it hopes to boost the conversion rate of customers from these legacy services to full fibre.

NBN Co is also preparing for a sharp increase in fibre lead-in installations to support the growth.

According to NBN Co the upgrade of the network serving 3.5 million FTTN premises is expected to be complete by December 2025, the work to connect individual premises to the FTTP network

“The work to connect individual premises to the FTTP network (both in that footprint and for the further 1.5 million premises in the FTTC footprint) will continue for some years,” it said.

NBN Co is also allocating $2.2 billion in capital expenditure from FY27 to FY29 for fibre lead-ins and customer connections as part of its upgrade programs from FTTN and FTTC to FTTP.

The company plans further consultation on this in February 2025. Between FY24 and FY26, NBN Co expects to spend just under $1.5 billion on full-fibre conversions.

Industry feedback on the draft plan is currently being sought, with the final version due for submission to the ACCC by mid-2025.