Australian NBN and Internet Statistics (2026): The Numbers, Sourced

A reference page for current Australian NBN, broadband and mobile statistics — sourced from NBN Co’s published financial half year results, the ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia program, ACMA’s Communications Report, Speedtest Global Index data and ABS releases. Every figure on this page is tied to a primary source listed at the bottom. Use any of these numbers in your own work as long as you credit the page.

Source: <a href="https://www.ozbroadbandreview.com">Oz Broadband Review</a>

The headline numbers

The rest of this page breaks the numbers down by topic, with the source for every figure called out alongside it. Every percentage and dollar value here is rounded to avoid false precision — if you need the exact figure to two decimal places, the source documents are linked at the bottom.

NBN active services by connection type

The NBN runs on a multi technology mix. The split as of December 2025 (approximate, rounded):

• FTTP (Fibre to the Premises): ~38% — the fastest access tier and the one expanding fastest under the Fibre Connect upgrade program
• HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial): ~19% — repurposed cable TV infrastructure, capable of NBN 1000 and now NBN 2000
• FTTC (Fibre to the Curb): ~14% — fibre to the kerb pit, copper for the last drop. Share is falling as FTTC premises move to FTTP.
• FTTN/B (Fibre to the Node/Building): ~22% — declining share as premises are upgraded to FTTP
• Fixed Wireless: ~5% — regional homes connected via NBN towers
• Sky Muster (satellite): ~2% — remote homes

The FTTP share has continued rising through 2025. Under the Fibre Connect program, NBN Co and the Australian Government have committed a joint investment of approximately $3.8 billion to upgrade most remaining FTTN premises to FTTP by 2030, alongside parallel FTTC upgrade programs. Source: NBN Co FY26 Half Year Results media release.

NBN active services by wholesale speed tier

NBN 50 remains the dominant speed tier. Share on NBN 100 and above has continued rising over 2025 as 4K streaming, cloud gaming and multi user households push more people to upgrade.

• NBN 50 — ~49% of active services
• NBN 100 — ~30%
• NBN 25 — ~8%
• NBN 250+ — ~7% (NBN 250 and NBN 1000 combined)
• NBN 1000 — ~3% (subset of above)
• NBN 12 — ~3%

Source: NBN Co quarterly wholesale market dashboard, December 2025 quarter. Figures rounded to whole percentages.

Typical evening speeds delivered (ACCC MBA)

The ACCC’s Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program tracks the speeds that paying customers actually receive on each NBN plan tier, by retailer, every quarter. The averages across the major retailers in the most recent MBA reports:

• NBN 25 — ~23 Mbps typical evening speed (92% of advertised)
• NBN 50 — ~46 Mbps typical evening speed (92% of advertised)
• NBN 100/20 — ~92 Mbps typical evening speed (92% of advertised)
• NBN 100/40 — ~93 Mbps typical evening speed (93% of advertised)
• NBN 250 — ~230 Mbps typical evening speed (92% of advertised)

Individual retailer performance varies. Aussie Broadband, Superloop, Exetel and Mate are consistent performers near the top of the per tier league tables; some lower priced retailers deliver materially slower evening speeds on the same wholesale tier. Source: ACCC Measuring Broadband Australia quarterly reports.

How Australia compares globally

From Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index data (a real time aggregation of consumer speed tests):

• Australia’s median fixed broadband download speed: around 120–135 Mbps as of 2025–26 (figure has trended up as more households move to NBN 100+ and gigabit tiers)
• Australia’s global rank for fixed broadband: typically ~21st over recent quarters
• Singapore consistently ranks #1 (median fixed download often over 300 Mbps)
• Australia’s median mobile download: around 85–100 Mbps (typically top 15 globally for mobile)

For the full international comparison and historical trend, see our Australia’s internet speed rankings deep dive. Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index.

Mobile, 5G and the 3G shutdown

• Smartphone penetration in Australia: ~98% of adults (ACMA Communications Report)
• Fixed line voice (PSTN/VoIP) use: ~15% of Australians made fixed line voice calls by the end of 2024 — most communication has moved to mobile and OTT messaging (ACMA, BuddeComm)
• Telstra 3G shutdown: 28 October 2024
• Optus 3G shutdown: 28 October 2024
• Vodafone/TPG 3G shutdown: 31 January 2025
• 5G coverage (Telstra): ~90% of the population by late 2025 (Telstra disclosures)
• 5G coverage (Optus): ~83% of the population by late 2025 (Optus disclosures)
• 5G home wireless: actively marketed by Telstra, Optus and TPG as a fixed line alternative; combined subscriber base in the hundreds of thousands of services nationally

Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Communications Report; ACMA Communications and media in Australia: How we communicate; carrier media releases.

Market structure: who sells NBN to consumers

NBN Co is the wholesale only network operator. Consumer plans are sold by retail service providers (RSPs), of which there are over 100 in Australia. By active subscriber count, the largest retail groups have been (roughly, based on disclosed subscriber numbers and ACMA market reporting):

1. Telstra — the largest single retail provider
2. TPG Telecom group — includes TPG, iiNet, internode brands and the Vodafone-merged business
3. Optus
4. Aussie Broadband — Australia’s largest independent retailer, grown rapidly over the past five years
5. Superloop, Vocus (parent of Dodo), Exetel, Mate, Tangerine — the next tier of significant retailers

Exact subscriber numbers fluctuate quarter to quarter and most providers below the top three don’t disclose their NBN subscriber counts in detail. The market has continued to consolidate, with the VHA-TPG merger completing in 2020 and ongoing acquisitions among smaller retailers. Source: ACMA Communications Report; carrier annual reports and ASX disclosures.

The free FTTP upgrade program

• NBN Co’s Fibre Connect program offers a free FTTP upgrade to eligible FTTN, FTTC and FTTB premises when the customer signs up to an eligible plan (typically NBN 100 or higher)
• Joint investment by NBN Co and the Australian Government: ~$3.8 billion
• Target: most remaining FTTN and FTTC premises to be upgraded to FTTP by 2030
• Cumulative FTTP upgrades under the program: approximately 1 million premises by December 2025
• Upgrade pace has been around 200,000+ premises per financial half year

Source: NBN Co FY26 Half Year Results media release and accompanying CEO speech.

Other useful Australian internet figures

• Most Australian NBN plans in the budget tier sit in the range $55–$80 per month for unlimited NBN 50, with intro pricing as low as $50 for the first 6 months from some providers (varies by quarter)
• Average household data usage on a fixed line NBN connection: approximately 500 GB to 1.5 TB per month for streaming households (industry telemetry; varies widely)
• NBN 2000 (2 Gbps wholesale speed): launched on HFC during 2025 to selected premises; available on a small number of premium plans from major providers
• Sky Muster Premium Plus: offers wholesale download speeds up to 100 Mbps with higher data allowances than legacy Sky Muster (source: NBN Co Sky Muster product pages)

Where these statistics fit in our wider coverage

• NBN Plans in Australia — every speed tier explained
• What internet speed do I need?
• Australia’s internet speed rankings (global)
• History of the internet in Australia (1989–today)
• Different types of NBN connections
• Cheapest unlimited NBN plans (live data)
• 5G in Australia

Primary sources used on this page

All figures above are drawn from one or more of the following primary sources, listed alphabetically by publisher. We update this page as each new release is published.

• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) — Internet activity and household use of information technology releases. abs.gov.au
• Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) — annual Communications Report and Communications and media in Australia series, covering mobile, fixed line, voice and messaging trends. ACMA — How we communicate
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) — Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) quarterly reports, plus NBN Wholesale Market Indicators. ACCC MBA program
• BuddeComm (Paul Budde Research) — Australia: Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband Statistics and Analyses. budde.com.au
• NBN Co — Half Year and Full Year Results media releases, CEO speeches, wholesale market dashboard. NBN Co media centre
• NBN Co FY26 Half Year Results — most recent half year disclosure available, used for FTTP upgrade progress and active service figures throughout this page. NBN Co media centre
• Ookla Speedtest Global Index — monthly aggregated speed test data by country. speedtest.net/global-index
• Telstra, Optus, TPG investor and ASX disclosures — half year and full year financial results contain disclosed subscriber and coverage figures.

How we curate these figures. Every statistic on this page comes from one of the primary sources listed. Where rounded figures appear (e.g. “~49%”), the underlying source figure is reported to greater precision in the linked document. Where ranges appear (e.g. “120–135 Mbps”), the figure has moved within that range across recent quarterly releases. We avoid including statistics that haven’t appeared in a primary disclosure. If you spot a figure on this page that looks out of date, please get in touch via the site contact form — these reports are published every six months for NBN Co and quarterly for ACCC, and we update the page as new releases land.

Reusing these statistics

Anyone is welcome to use the figures on this page in articles, reports, presentations, research or social media. We just ask that you credit Oz Broadband Review with a link back to the main site so readers can find the original source and any subsequent updates.

Suggested credit, in HTML:

Source: <a href="https://www.ozbroadbandreview.com">Oz Broadband Review</a>

In plain text:

Source: Oz Broadband Review — ozbroadbandreview.com

Or simply: (via Oz Broadband Review).

If you’re writing for a news outlet or producing research and want to confirm a figure with a primary source before publication, the source list above tells you exactly where each number on this page came from.