The short version
Key points
- NBN Co is discussing residential and business multi-gigabit plans with retail service providers.
- Fibre to the premises residential plans are proposed to reach 2,000Mbps download and 200Mbps upload.
- HFC residential plans are proposed to reach 2,000Mbps download and 100Mbps upload.
- Business fibre plans are described as offering 2,000Mbps download and 500Mbps upload.
- Existing NBN hardware has 1Gbps ports, so new network termination devices would be required.
What NBN Co announced
NBN Co’s announcement on 16 May 2024 concerns accelerated discussions with retail service providers about multi-gigabit speed plans. The discussions cover both residential and commercial services, but the announcement is not the same as every plan already being available to order.
For residential fibre to the premises customers, the proposed NBN Home Hyperfast service would offer up to 2,000Mbps download and 200Mbps upload. The proposed HFC version would also offer up to 2,000Mbps download, but with a lower 100Mbps upload speed.
Business plans could offer higher uploads
The transcript also refers to business fibre plans offering 2,000Mbps download and up to 500Mbps upload. These plans would be limited to customers able to obtain a business service, including those with an ABN, and may involve a higher cost than residential plans.
The different upload speeds are important because a 2Gbps download service does not necessarily provide 2Gbps upload. The proposed residential fibre, residential HFC and business fibre services each have different upload limits.
New hardware would be needed
The existing fibre to the premises network termination device, or NTD, has a 1Gbps port. The HFC modem equipment currently used for NBN connections is also described as being limited to 1Gbps ports. As a result, customers would not be able to use the full proposed speed with their current NBN hardware.
NBN Co proposed a new slimline, single-port NTD for residential use, with the technical capability to support future speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. A new four-port model for businesses was proposed with technical capability of up to 10Gbps. These devices would be part of the requirements for enabling multi-gigabit services.
The HFC caveat
HFC, or hybrid fibre coaxial, uses fibre to a neighbourhood node and then a shielded copper coaxial cable to the premises. The transcript notes that HFC customers can currently receive up to 1Gbps, although the available speed had commonly been around 750Mbps before NBN Co announced that the full 1Gbps would be unlocked.
The proposed 2Gbps HFC service has a significant caveat. Research discussed in the video, based on a 2020 spectrum analysis of an NBN HFC connection, suggested that the cable could practically reach about 1.4Gbps. That result is not presented as an NBN Co specification, so the practical performance of a future 2Gbps HFC service remains uncertain.
The transcript also discusses DOCSIS 3.1 and DOCSIS 4.0. DOCSIS 3.1 can theoretically support higher download speeds, but maintaining a 100Mbps upload speed can reduce the available download capacity. DOCSIS 4.0 is described as technically capable of 2Gbps download and 100Mbps upload. These technical possibilities do not confirm the final speeds, pricing or availability of NBN plans.
What customers should expect
The announcement points towards 2Gbps plans rather than confirming that they are immediately available nationwide. Retailer discussions, new NBN hardware, network capability, customer equipment and pricing will all affect whether a particular address can use the service.
Customers will also need suitable in-home equipment. A router, Ethernet cabling and connected devices must support multi-gigabit networking if the faster NBN service is to provide more than 1Gbps to the local network. The transcript focuses on the NBN hardware limitation, but it does not confirm the final customer equipment requirements or plan pricing.
TechManPat’s conclusion
I think 2Gbps NBN plans would be a significant step forward, particularly on fibre to the premises, where the proposed 200Mbps upload is more useful than the HFC upload limit. However, I would be cautious about treating 2Gbps HFC as a guaranteed real-world result until the network capability, hardware and final service details are confirmed. I also expect these plans to cost substantially more, although the announcement does not provide pricing.
This knowledge-centre summary is based on the linked TechManPat video and reflects the information available when it was published. Check current pricing, availability and policies before acting.
