NBN: Fibre-First Vision and Australian Values

Previous ambitions around a national MTM policy, with its reliance on ageing copper and hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) technologies, have emerged as a short-sighted approach that would have prioritised short-term cost savings over long-term economic gain. This approach had the potential to create a digital lottery, where your location determined your access to the digital economy. The return to a fibre-first approach is a crucial step in levelling the playing field and ensuring that all Australians can participate in the economy of the future.

Social Inclusion and a Fairer Society

The social benefits of a high-quality NBN are just as significant as the economic ones. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted our reliance on the internet for everything from education and healthcare to social connection. A fibre NBN is the foundation for a more inclusive and equitable society.

•  Telehealth: Reliable, high-speed internet is essential for the growth of telehealth services. This is particularly important for those in regional, rural and remote areas, who often have to travel long distances for specialist medical appointments.
  
  
• Remote Education: The ability to learn from home is no longer a niche requirement. A fibre NBN ensures that students, regardless of their location, can access the same educational resources and opportunities.
  
  
• Social Connection: For many, the internet is a lifeline. It connects families and friends, and provides access to community groups and support networks. A reliable NBN helps to combat social isolation, particularly for the elderly and those with mobility issues.

The MTM model, with its inconsistent speeds and reliability, threatened to create a new digital divide, where those with inferior connections were left behind. By prioritising a fibre-first approach, we are investing in a more connected and inclusive society.

A Sound Financial Investment

The initial cost of the NBN was a significant point of contention. However, it's important to view this as a long-term investment, not a short-term expense.

• Future-Proofing Our Infrastructure: The immutable advantage of fibre-optic cable is its longevity and scalability. Unlike copper, which degrades over time and has limited capacity, fibre can be upgraded to carry more and more data as our needs evolve. This means that the investment we make today will continue to pay dividends for decades to come.
  
  
• Increased Revenue and Profitability: As more Australians connect to the NBN and upgrade to higher speed tiers, NBN Co's revenue and profitability will continue to grow. The company is already on a path to becoming a self-sustaining entity, and the continued rollout of fibre will only strengthen its financial position²
  
  
• Avoiding the Costs of Inaction: The real cost would have been not building the NBN. In a world where digital connectivity is paramount, a failure to invest in a world-class broadband network would have left Australia at a significant competitive disadvantage.

The MTM policy was a false economy. While it may have appeared cheaper on paper, it saddled us with a network that was already obsolete, and that would have required costly and disruptive upgrades in the years to come. The return to a fibre-first NBN is not just a technological upgrade; it's a smart financial decision that will deliver long-term value for all Australians.

The NBN is more than just a network; it's a platform for innovation, a catalyst for economic growth, and a foundation for a fairer and more connected society. The decision to return to a fibre-first model is a vindication of the original vision for the NBN, and a crucial step in securing Australia's future in the digital age.

But we need to be under no illusion that the work is even near finished (if it ever will be if the NBN network continues to evolve as it should). The original plan contemplated at that time (circa 2009) that 93% of the population would be connected to Fixed Line Connectivity and the remaining 7% would be connected via wireless connectivity, either Fixed Wireless or Geostationary Satellite (via Skymuster)³.

We have moved on.

The Current Challenge: Closing the Regional, Rural and Remote Divide

While the return to a focus on fibre is a welcome course correction, we cannot claim the NBN is a success until it serves all Australians equitably. For the hundreds of thousands of households and businesses in regional, rural and remote Australia reliant on Fixed Wireless and Sky Muster satellite services, the promise of a high-speed digital future remains frustratingly out of reach. We must now confront the argument that geography should dictate opportunity.

 The core issue is that there are no technical reasons why every person in Australia should not have access to the same high level of fixed broadband connectivity; the mindset and policy barriers are purely economic and political.

The Two-Tier Network: A Reality for the Bush

Each digital connectivity technology, whether it be fibre or any type of wireless (fixed wireless, 5G, Satellite etc) plays a vital and distinct role in the digital connectivity ecosystem, all complimentary and integral to each other.

 But unlike the MTM strategy of old, its a matter of finding the right tool for the task, not as a short term solution but as a long term infrastructure strategy.

The use of Fixed Wireless and Satellite technologies for permanently connecting households and businesses are, by their very nature, a compromise. While they are vast improvements over older fixed wireless services, they cannot compare to the speed, capacity, and reliability of a fixed-line fibre connection. 

• Congestion and Speed: Fixed Wireless towers and satellite beams have a finite capacity. During peak hours, as more users log on, speeds for everyone  can plummet. This "contention"⁴ makes reliable video conferencing for work or school a game of chance.
  
  
• Latency: For satellite users, the sheer distance data must travel to space and back creates significant delay, or latency⁵. This makes real-time applications like online gaming, cloud-based software, and even some phone calls over the internet a challenge and in some cases, practically unusable.
  
  
• Data Limits and Reliability: Satellite services often come with restrictive data caps, forcing families to ration their internet usage. Furthermore, both technologies can be affected by adverse weather conditions, from heavy rain to high winds, creating an unacceptable level of unreliability for running a business or accessing essential services.
  
  
• Starlink – a great interim solution but ….. There is no doubt that Starlink has had a significant impact on digital connectivity for regional , rural and remote Australia and so too will its Amazon equivalent Project Kuiper. But Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems are complex, high maintenance, expensive and as with all wireless systems, prone to congestion and subject to atmospheric and environmental interference
  
  In areas in Australia where Fibre to the Premises is available, this will invariably be the choice over Starlink or other wireless technologies⁶.

This creates a two-tier digital nation: a fibre "haves" in the cities and suburbs and major regional conurbations, and a wireless "have-nots" in the regions. This is not a sustainable or equitable path forward⁷.

A Question of Will, Not a Lack of Way

The argument against extending fibre further into regional, rural and remote areas is always cost. The per-premises price to run a physical cable to a remote farm or a small outback town is undoubtedly high. However, framing this purely as a cost is a failure of vision. It should be seen as a long-term investment in national infrastructure, akin to the highways, railways, and rural electrification schemes that built our nation.

These projects were never expected to turn an immediate profit. They were understood to be essential enablers of economic activity and social cohesion. The political and economic calculus must shift from asking "what is the immediate return on investment?" to "what is the long-term cost of inaction?" The cost of inaction is a permanent regional, rural and remote economic disadvantage, a decline in access to essential services like telehealth and remote education, and the acceleration of a population drain from the bush to the cities.

Investing in True National Equity

The long-term benefits of investing in universal fixed-line access far outweigh the upfront costs.

• Unlocking Regional Economies: High-capacity broadband is already beginning to revolutionise agriculture through smart farming technology (ag-tech), it will enable regional businesses to compete on a global scale, and attract a new wave of remote workers and "e-change" entrepreneurs to regional and rural towns.
  
  
• Working From Anywhere – the progressive access to and improvement of high speed NBN infrastructure has had an inexorable impact on how people live and work. The potential for driving regional, rural and remote communities and economies and increasing the sustainability of smaller towns and cities continues to grow⁸.
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• Delivering Essential Services: It would guarantee that a doctor's telehealth appointment is crystal clear and that a child's remote classroom never drops out.
  
  
• Building a Resilient Nation: It would strengthen our nation's resilience, ensuring that all communities have the digital tools to adapt and thrive in the 21st century and well beyond.

The goal should be a clear, funded, long-term plan to progressively push fibre deeper into our regions, reducing the reliance on wireless technologies and treating them as a transitional solution, not a permanent one. A truly national broadband network cannot have second-class citizens. It's time to commit unequivocally to taking this most important national building project ever, to a truly National level, for all communities of Australia, wherever they live in this Nation, equally and equitably.

George Fong - 24^th September 2025

This article was published in my personal capacity. The views expressed are my own and do not represent the views or positions of any entity with which I am associated or affiliated .

End Notes

1. Accenture, Connecting Australia: The economic and social benefits of the nbn™ network, report commissioned by NBN Co, January 2024. Available at: https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbn/documents/about-nbn/reports/reports-and-publications/accenture-2024-economic-and-social-impact-insight-report.pdf.coredownload.pdf
   
   
2. NBN Co Limited, Corporate Plan 2024, 31 August 2023.3 Available at: https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/publications/corporate-plan
   
   
3. McKinsey & Company and KPMG, National Broadband Network Implementation Study, report for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, 6 May 2010
   
   
4. NBN Fixed Wireless is a shared network, meaning that the available bandwidth from a tower is distributed among the active users in that cell. During peak usage periods, this can result in slower speeds for all users.
   
   
5. Skymuster is in a geostationary position over Australia 36,000kms away from the Earth. The round trip distance that data must travel is therefore 72,000kms See Adam Thorn , ACCC report records poor NBN satellite internet performance December 2024 https://www.spaceconnectonline.com.au/satellites/6411-starlink-latency-20x-better-than-nbn-satellites
   
   
6. Orbital Today: Starlink vs Fiber. The Ultimate Battle for Your Internet , July 2025 https://orbitaltoday.com/2025/07/26/starlink-vs-fiber-comparison/
   
   
7. Paul Budde, NBN Co's wireless upgrade a big boost, but Musk's Starlink still a challenge, April 2025 https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/nbn-cos-wireless-upgrade-a-big-boost-but-musks-starlink-still-a-challenge
   
   
8. Regional Australia Institute, Regional living, remote working: The lifestyle Australians are longing for, https://regionalaustralia.org.au/Web/Web/Media/News/2025/Regional_living_remote_working.aspx 

Other References

Hansard - National Broadband Network Select Committee Hearing 04/03/2016: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=committees/commsen/4cfc1ef3-94eb-4b14-93e1-736786dc098e/&sid=0000

Paul Budde - Digital divide widens despite faster internet: What the OECD report says about Australia, August 2025: https://paulbudde.com/blog/economic-social-and-political-issues-ict/digital-divide-widens-despite-faster-internet-what-the-oecd-report-says-about-australia/

Paul Budde - The Coalition’s NBN failure: political sabotage and the threat of privatisation continues, March 2025: https://paulbudde.com/blog/nbn-ftth-broadband/the-coalitions-nbn-failure-political-sabotage-and-the-threat-of-privatisation-continues/

OECD (2025), Closing Broadband Connectivity Divides for All: From Evidence to Practice, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d5ea99b2-en.