An extra $3.8 billion will be invested in the National Broadband Network (NBN) to ensure the entire network is fibre-to-the-node (FTTN).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Federal Government would provide an equity injection of up to $3 billion, with NBN Co contributing more than $800 million to the project.
Prime Minister Albanese said the Government would deliver the investment while guaranteeing NBN Co would remain in public ownership.
“Australians owning NBN Co is the best means of ensuring prices for high speed internet remain affordable for all Australians,” he said.
“Fast, reliable, affordable internet is an essential building block of any modern economy. Connectivity boosts national productivity, enables innovation, and creates jobs.”
Prime Minister Albanese said modelling by Accenture suggested the FTTN upgrade program would provide a $10.4 billion cumulative uplift in GDP over the next decade.
He said individual households could save more than 100 hours and $2580 per year in avoided travel time and costs from accessing faster broadband.
“The new FTTN upgrades will deliver access to higher internet speeds for around 622,000 additional premises, with the upgrades delivered by 2030.”
Prime Minister Albanese said when the upgrade program was complete, more than 94 percent of premises on the fixed line network , over 11 million homes and businesses, would have access to connections enabling speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
He said a small proportion of more complex premises would need to undergo further design analysis and may be upgraded through other technology solutions, offering speeds up to 400Mbps.
