NBN Co is progressively upgrading eligible premises across Australia to Fibre to the Premises — the highest-quality NBN technology available. For many businesses, it's one of the most worthwhile infrastructure improvements they'll make this decade, and the upgrade itself is free. If you're not sure whether your premises qualifies, or you know you're eligible but aren't sure what's involved, this guide walks through what FTTP actually is and exactly what the upgrade process looks like from start to finish.

What FTTP actually means

The NBN was built using several different technologies depending on where you are in Australia. Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Curb (FTTC), and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) all involve optical fibre running to a point near your premises — a node on the street, a pit at the curb, or a coaxial cable in the wall — and then a copper or coaxial segment covering the last stretch into your building.

That last segment is the weak link. Copper and coaxial cable degrade with distance. They're affected by temperature, moisture, cable age, and electrical interference. The further you are from the node, the slower and less consistent your speeds tend to be. There's a reason that two businesses on the same street on FTTN can have noticeably different experiences.

Fibre to the Premises removes that final copper segment entirely. The optical fibre runs all the way into your building. There's no copper in the path. The signal doesn't degrade the same way, and the technology is fundamentally more capable of delivering high, consistent speeds over time.

Why it matters for business specifically

Faster peak speeds are nice, but they're not the whole story. What FTTP delivers that other technologies genuinely can't match is a combination of qualities that matter specifically for business use:

  • Symmetric speed capability — On FTTP, both your download and upload can be high simultaneously. This is critical for businesses doing video conferencing, cloud backups, VoIP, or transferring large files. Other technologies are asymmetric by design.
  • Consistency under load — FTTP handles high simultaneous demand from multiple users in the office without the speed degradation you'd see on a copper-based connection.
  • Higher speed tiers — FTTP supports download speeds up to 1 Gbps and beyond, and upload speeds up to 500 Mbps. Higher-tier plans like NBN 250 and above are only available on FTTP or HFC — FTTN simply can't carry them.
  • Long-term reliability — Optical fibre doesn't corrode, isn't affected by rain-induced resistance changes in copper, and doesn't degrade with age the way copper does. An FTTP connection will perform as well in ten years as it does on day one.
The upgrade is free, but not all premises are eligible yet. NBN Co is rolling out FTTP upgrades progressively across Australia. Whether your premises qualifies depends on your address and where you are in the rollout schedule. The only way to know for certain is to check — Caznet can do this for you.

The upgrade process, step by step

One of the most common concerns we hear from businesses about infrastructure changes is the disruption involved. The FTTP upgrade is more straightforward than most people expect. Here's exactly what happens:

  1. Check eligibility. Caznet checks your address against NBN Co's rollout data to confirm whether you're in an eligible upgrade zone and which technology you're currently on. This takes minutes and costs nothing.
  2. Select your plan. Once eligibility is confirmed, we'll discuss your speed requirements. FTTP opens up plan options that weren't available on your previous technology — it's a good opportunity to reassess whether your current speed tier still fits your business.
  3. NBN Co schedules installation. An NBN Co technician appointment is booked. You'll receive a confirmed date and appointment window. For business premises, we aim to schedule at a time that minimises disruption to your operations.
  4. The installation itself. The NBN Co technician comes to your premises and routes the fibre cable into your building, typically through an external wall or conduit. They install an ONT — an Optical Network Terminal — which replaces your previous NTD. Most installations take between two and four hours.
  5. The brief switchover. Once the ONT is in place, your service is migrated to the new FTTP connection. Expect under an hour of downtime during this stage — often less. Plan for a brief offline period during the transition window.
  6. Caznet confirms everything is live. We verify your connection is active and performing as expected on the new FTTP service. If anything needs attention, we handle it from here.

What to expect on installation day

Knowing what's involved helps you prepare. There are a few practical things worth noting before the technician arrives:

  • Someone needs to be on site. The NBN Co technician will need access to your premises during the appointment window. Make sure someone with access is available for the duration.
  • There may be minor drilling. Routing the fibre cable into your building will likely require a small entry point through an external wall — a hole roughly the diameter of a pencil. The technician will discuss the route with you before proceeding.
  • Decide where the ONT goes. The ONT needs to be located near a power point. Ideally this is in your comms room or wherever your networking equipment lives. If you have an existing server rack, near it is the natural choice. Think about this before the appointment so you're ready to direct the technician.
  • The technician installs; Caznet provisions. The NBN Co technician handles the physical installation and hands over a working ONT. Caznet handles the service provisioning — activating your plan on the new connection and confirming everything is running correctly.

A practical tip if you're also upgrading your speed

If you're currently on a lower-speed NBN plan and you've been considering moving up — from NBN 50 to NBN 100, for example, or to a higher tier that's only available on FTTP — the right time to do it is simultaneously with the infrastructure upgrade. Coordinating both changes at once means a single appointment window, a single brief outage, and a single set of configuration changes on our end. Doing them separately means two disruption events instead of one. It's worth planning ahead.

What doesn't change

The FTTP upgrade is a change to the physical connection between your premises and the NBN — nothing more. Everything else stays the same:

  • Your phone numbers are not affected. If you're running VoIP through Caznet, your numbers carry over without any porting or changes.
  • If you have a static IP address, it can remain in place. Your Caznet account stays as-is.
  • Your router may need to be reconnected to the new ONT, but in most cases the same equipment continues working.

The upgrade touches the physical infrastructure at the perimeter of your premises — the connection in, not the network inside.

Don't wait for the window to close. NBN Co's FTTP rollout is happening in stages. Once the upgrade window for your area opens, there's a period during which the free upgrade is available. Businesses that don't act during this window may find themselves on the waiting list for a later stage — or facing a paid upgrade path. If you're eligible, locking it in promptly is the right call.

The bottom line

The FTTP upgrade costs your business nothing. The process involves a single technician appointment, a brief period of downtime, and a straightforward handover. The outcome is a materially better internet connection — faster, more consistent, more capable, and built on technology that won't degrade over time.

For businesses that depend on their internet connection — and that's essentially every business operating in 2025 — this is one of the few genuinely free infrastructure improvements on the table. The main thing is not to wait until the rollout window in your area has passed.

Caznet can check your address today and tell you exactly where you stand. If you're eligible, we'll walk you through the next steps and handle the coordination from there.

Learn more about Caznet's NBN FTTP upgrade service →