NBN Co urging FTTN customers to upgrade to FTTP ahead of disaster season

NBN Co is advising Australians living in areas prone to natural disasters and severe weather to take advantage of its free upgrades to Fibre to the Premise (FTTP). While weather events like flooding and bushfires can and do result in NBN outages, an NBN spokesperson told WhistleOut FTTP is more resilient in emergencies when compared to technology like Fibre to the Node (FTTN).

"FTTP is more reliable in extreme weather because it uses a direct fibre connection to your home, which is less affected by weather and has fewer points that rely on power," said the spokesperson.

"Fibre is less vulnerable to environmental damage than copper-based technologies. It isn’t as susceptible to water ingress and can maintain stable performance even in high-risk conditions. This means fibre has fewer faults, faster restoration times, and more consistent connectivity in more places."

The spokesperson provided an example from the start of the year where FTTP services were able to be restored in a few hours, while FTTN services took days.

"The relative resilience in connection technologies was apparent when two towns were inundated by weather events earlier this year. Townsville, which mainly uses FTTP, experienced 13.4% of related outages, compared to Ingham, which mainly uses [the] FTTN network, and saw 86.6%. FTTP customers in Townsville had their NBN service restored in less than four hours, compared to days for customers on copper-based technology in Ingham, as extensive equipment repairs were needed."

Free FTTP upgrades are available to those on either FTTN or Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) connection types. An upgrade can be requested by ordering an NBN 500 plan or faster from an eligible provider. Most upgrade requests should be fulfilled within 30 business days of placing the order. Read more about requesting a free FTTP upgrade here.

Here are the most popular NBN 500 plans in our database:

#1	amaysim	amaysim FTTP, HFC NBN500 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/43 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $40/mth off for the first 6 months ($30 NBN Sale + $10 Standard Intro Offer), then $90/mth. Ends 20.10.26 $50/mth for first 6 months, then $90/mth Min. cost $50 Link not supplied	$50/mth for first 6 months, then $90/mth Min. cost $50	Link not supplied
#2	Dodo	Dodo FTTP, HFC nbn500 Unlimited Plan FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/48 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $30/mth discount for 6 months based on the standard price $92.99/mth. Ends 08.12.26. T&Cs apply. $62.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.99/mth Min. cost $62.99 Go to Site*	$62.99/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.99/mth Min. cost $62.99	Go to Site
#3	Tangerine Telecom	Tangerine Telecom FTTP, HFC Speedy Max NBN 500/50 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/42.5 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $33/mth off for the first 6 mths, $59.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.90/mth. Ends 30.10.26 $59.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.90/mth Min. cost $59.90 Go to Site	$59.90/mth for first 6 mths, then $92.90/mth Min. cost $59.90	Go to Site
#4	Belong	Belong FTTP, HFC NBN Fast – Unlimited FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/40 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $36 off for 6 months - $59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth (Offer ends 04.11.26) + Free $80 Mobile SIM $59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $59 Go to Site	$59/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $59	Go to Site
#5	Exetel	Exetel FTTP, HFC One Plan 500/50 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/45 Mbps Unlimited Data $80/mth Min. cost $80 Go to Site	$80/mth Min. cost $80	Go to Site
#6	SpinTel	SpinTel FTTP, HFC Home Turbo 500/50 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/42 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $20.95 off your plan for first 6 months! $69/mth for first 6 months, then $89.95/mth. $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.95/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $89.95/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#7	Flip	Flip FTTP, HFC Unlimited Fast Speed nbn500 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/42 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $19.90/mth off for 6 months - $69/mth for first 6mths then $88.90/mth. New customers only. Ends 31.10.26. T&Cs apply. $69/mth for first 6 mths then $88.90/mth Min. cost $69 Go to Site	$69/mth for first 6 mths then $88.90/mth Min. cost $69	Go to Site
#8	Telstra	Telstra FTTP, HFC Premium Internet Only Plan FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/40 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Includes $30/mth off for 6 months ($69/mth for 6 mths then $99/mth) when you sign up to this plan. Offer ends 02.11.26 $69/mth for first 6 mths, then $99/mth Min. cost $69 Link not supplied	$69/mth for first 6 mths, then $99/mth Min. cost $69	Link not supplied
#9	Superloop	Superloop FTTP, HFC Family Max nbn500/50 FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/45 Mbps Unlimited Data Deal: Incl. $21/mth off for 6 mths! $74/mth for 6 mths, then $95/mth + Bundle & Save $74/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $74 Go to Site	$74/mth for first 6 mths, then $95/mth Min. cost $74	Go to Site
#10	Optus	Optus FTTP, HFC Optus nbn® Promo Plus Plan FTTP, HFC nbn® 500/43 Mbps Unlimited Data Promo plan: $69/mth for 6mths, then $109/mth or as notified. Until 12/11/26. New services only. Minimum cost $375. Terms apply. $69/mth for first 6 months, normally $109/mth Min. cost $69 Link not supplied	$69/mth for first 6 months, normally $109/mth Min. cost $69	Link not supplied

Over five million addresses will be able to request an FTTP upgrade by the end of 2025. A further 622,000 FTTN premises will become eligible for a free upgrade by 2030. Most of these will be able to upgrade to FTTP, but 5% of these remaining premises may be upgraded to a different technology type.

In addition to being more resilient, FTTP also allows for faster speed tiers and is more reliable. While FTTN and FTTC customers can only order plans as fast as 100Mbps, FTTP customers can get NBN plans with speeds as fast as 2Gbps. FTTP has less outages than any other NBN technology type.

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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