Cable broadband in 2014 vs NBN
Did you know the NBN (National Broadband Network), which cost over 50 billion dollars, took more than a decade to complete? Back in 2014, Telstra-Bigpond cable customers could get speeds over cable faster than the proposed NBN (up to 120 Mbit/s) for just an additional $20 per month. BigPond called it a Booster Pack. They did not advertise this fast internet plan anywhere, but BigPond would install the service if you asked. A similar deal existed for Optus cable customers. The old cable networks have since been shut down as NBN rolled out.
NBN speed upgrade 2025
The NBN received a major speed upgrade in September 2025. Speed tiers were significantly increased across the network:
- The old 100/20 Mbps tier now delivers 500/50 Mbps
- The 250/25 Mbps tier increased to 750/50 Mbps
- The 1000/50 Mbps tier now offers 1000/100 Mbps upload
- New NBN Hyperfast tier: 2000/200 Mbps on fibre (FTTP) and 2000/100 on HFC
In January 2025, the government announced $4 billion to convert 95% of remaining fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) copper connections to full fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) by 2030. Enterprise customers can now access symmetrical speeds up to 10,000 Mbps.
NBN vs 5G: which is better?
5G home broadband plans from Telstra and Optus offer speeds up to 1000 Mbps, competing directly with mid-tier NBN plans. 5G can be a good option in areas with strong coverage, though it may have higher latency and data caps compared to fixed-line NBN. For most households, NBN fibre remains the more reliable choice for consistent speeds and unlimited data.
NBN fibre advantages
The NBN provides faster ping (latency) and upload speeds than the older cable broadband technology. Beyond raw download speeds, the NBN fibre infrastructure offers improved response time and symmetrical upload capability on higher tiers. These factors matter for online gaming, video conferencing, cloud backups, and uploading large files. The September 2025 upgrade doubled or tripled upload speeds on most plans.
2014 - 2026