NBN Co to speed up Fixed Wireless with 5G, remove need for satellite in some areas

By Alex Choros

Last updated 22 March 2022

NBN Co today announced that it will use 5G technology to upgrade the Fixed Wireless portion of its network, increasing speeds, enhancing capacity, reducing latency, and bolstering coverage. While the network builder has yet to provide a firm timeline, it expects the rollout will take around two-and-a-half years after "detailed planning" is completed.

The 5G upgrade will have a number of benefits for Australians on both Fixed Wireless and Satellite technology types.

The most notable is faster, more consistent speeds for Fixed Wireless customers. NBN Co expects that every home in the Fixed Wireless footprint will be able to order a NBN 100 plan, and 85% of the footprint will be able to get a NBN 250 plan with speeds of up to 250Mbps. Presently, the fastest Fixed Wireless plans available max out at 75Mbps.

In addition, the network improvements are said to ensure Fixed Wireless customers achieve download speeds of at least 50Mbps during peak hours. Fixed Wireless NBN is more prone to congestion than other technology types. In its latest Measuring Broadband Australia report, the ACCC found that Fixed Wireless NBN customers were only achieving 79.8% of their plans' maximum speeds during busy hours.

The upgrades will also extend the Fixed Wireless footprint by up to 50%, which will allow around 120,000 premises that could previously only get Sky Muster Satellite NBN to order a much faster Fixed Wireless connection with a higher data allowance.

Customers still left on Satellite will benefit from improvements too. From mid this year, NBN Co is proposing that Sky Muster Plus plans will have unmetered data for 16 hours of a day, up from the current six-hour window with an off-peak data allowance. This would span from 12am to 4pm each day. In addition, NBN Co is aiming to increase the average monthly data allowance for non-Plus Sky Muster plans to 55GB. This will then increase to 90GB when the Fixed Wireless upgrades are complete.

Of course, NBN Co will still be competing with Starlink in many regional and rural areas, which promises unlimited data and speeds between 100Mbps and 200Mbps.

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