NBN, the wholesale network behind almost every Australian broadband connection
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is the wholesale fixed-line network that delivers internet to the vast majority of Australian homes and businesses. NBN Co builds and operates the infrastructure, but does not sell to consumers directly. Customers buy retail plans from around 200 ISPs that lease wholesale access from NBN Co. When the connection goes down, the fault can sit on the NBN itself, on the retail ISP's systems, or with local power at the address. The NBN outage map is the first place to check whether a confirmed network event is affecting an area.
- How the NBN is structured and how it differs from a retail ISP
- The five access technologies (FTTP, FTTN, FTTC, HFC, fixed-wireless, satellite) and why they matter for outages
- The main causes of NBN outages and how restoration works
- The customer-facing outage map, alerts and what to check first when the internet is down
A wholesale network owned by the Australian Government
NBN Co is a Government Business Enterprise wholly owned by the Australian Government. It was created in 2009 to build a national fibre network and progressively replaced the legacy Telstra copper network. The rollout was declared complete in 2020, with around 12.4 million premises ready to connect.
Key figures for the NBN:
- Around 8.6 million active services across the network.
- More than 12 million premises ready to connect.
- Coverage of around 99% of Australian premises across fixed-line, fixed-wireless and satellite.
- Wholesale-only model: every retail ISP buys access from NBN Co at regulated rates.
- 121 Points of Interconnect (POIs) where retail ISPs connect their networks to the NBN.
NBN Co does not bill end customers. The retail relationship sits with the ISP, but the underlying network performance, outages and major upgrades are NBN Co's responsibility.
Five access technologies, five different outage profiles
The NBN was built using a mix of technologies, and the technology at each address determines how the connection works, how it fails and how fast it can be restored.
FTTP (Fibre to the Premises)
A fibre cable runs all the way to the home. The most resilient technology on the network, with the fewest failure points. FTTP covers around 25% of premises, mostly in greenfield estates built since 2011 and in areas being progressively upgraded from FTTN.
FTTN (Fibre to the Node)
Fibre runs to a street cabinet (the node), then existing copper carries the signal to the home. The node depends on local power and battery backup. Around 30% of premises still rely on FTTN, with progressive upgrades to FTTP underway under the federal Better Connectivity Plan.
FTTC (Fibre to the Curb)
Fibre runs to a small unit in a pit on the street, then copper covers the last few metres to the home. Faster than FTTN, but still depends on local power at the pit. Around 10% of premises.
HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coaxial)
Uses the legacy Foxtel and Optus pay-TV coaxial network from a fibre node to the home. Around 15% of premises, mainly in established urban suburbs. HFC nodes need local power and are vulnerable to electrical issues on the local network.
Fixed-wireless and Sky Muster satellite
Around 6% of premises rely on the NBN fixed-wireless network (4G/5G-like base stations) and around 3% on the two Sky Muster satellites. These cover regional and remote Australia. Reliability depends on tower power, line-of-sight and, for satellite, congestion and weather attenuation.
Why NBN outages happen
NBN outages fall into a few well-defined categories. Knowing which type is affecting an address helps decide who to contact.
Power outages at the customer address
The single most common cause. The NBN modem at home, and for FTTN/FTTC/HFC the local node or pit, all require electricity to operate. When the power goes out on a street, the internet usually goes down with it, even if the NBN itself is fine. Restoration follows the local power restoration handled by the relevant electricity distributor.
Local network faults
A break in the local fibre, a failed FTTN node, a damaged HFC amplifier or a faulty drop cable typically affects one street or one estate. NBN Co's field crews repair the fault, usually within 24 to 72 hours depending on severity and access.
Backhaul and transit faults
A failure on the inter-state fibre backbone or at a Point of Interconnect can affect tens of thousands of customers across several ISPs at once. These events are rare but high-impact, and usually resolved within hours.
Severe weather and natural disasters
Storms, cyclones, floods and bushfires damage NBN infrastructure on a regular basis. The 2022 Northern Rivers floods, Cyclone Jasper in 2023 and Cyclone Alfred in 2025 each took out fibre and fixed-wireless sites that needed weeks to restore. Cyclone-prone regions in northern Queensland and northern Western Australia carry the highest risk.
Planned maintenance
NBN Co schedules planned outages overnight for hardware swaps, firmware upgrades and FTTN-to-FTTP migrations. Customers receive notification through their retail ISP at least a few days in advance.
Retail ISP issues
If the NBN itself is healthy but the customer's connection is still down, the fault often sits with the retail ISP: a CVC capacity issue at the Point of Interconnect, a DNS failure, a billing-related suspension or an authentication problem. These events are handled by the ISP, not by NBN Co.
Investments and the FTTP upgrade programme
The NBN is in the middle of one of its biggest upgrade cycles since the original rollout, driven by the federal Better Connectivity Plan and rising customer demand for higher speeds.
NBN upgrade highlights
- More than $3 billion committed to upgrading FTTN and FTTC connections to full-fibre FTTP by 2025.
- Around 10 million premises set to have access to gigabit speeds under the rollout.
- Continued investment in fixed-wireless capacity upgrades (5G-based replacement) to improve regional reliability.
- New Sky Muster Plus satellite service launched to give remote customers uncapped basic web browsing.
FTTP upgrade programme
NBN Co is replacing the copper portion of FTTN and FTTC connections with fibre wherever it makes economic sense. Customers in eligible areas can request a free upgrade through their retail ISP. The migration reduces both outage rates and speed limitations.
Fixed-wireless upgrades
The fixed-wireless network is being upgraded with new equipment, more towers and 5G-based technology. The new system increases speed and reduces the risk of congestion during peak hours, which was a major issue on the legacy fixed-wireless network.
Resilience and battery backup
Following recent cyclones and floods, NBN Co has expanded battery backup at exchanges, deployed portable Cell on Wheels (COW) units for emergency restoration, and reinforced network sites in high-risk regions.
Smart network management and customer tools
NBN Co operates a Network Operations Centre that monitors the entire wholesale network in real time. Customer-facing tools draw on the same data.
NBN outage map
NBN Co publishes a service status map updated in near real time. Customers enter an address to see whether a known fault, planned outage or upgrade is affecting their connection. The same data feeds the status pages of retail ISPs.
Network operations and crew dispatch
NBN Co's national operations centres detect faults automatically through network monitoring, dispatch field crews and coordinate with the retail ISPs whose customers are affected.
Retail ISP integration
Every retail ISP receives wholesale outage data through automated feeds, which they republish on their own status pages and use to manage support calls.
Outage tools, restoration and what to do when the internet is down
What to check first
The order to check matters when the internet goes out at home:
- Is there power at the address? If the local power is out, the NBN connection cannot work either. Check the local electricity distributor's outage map first.
- Is the modem reachable? A power-cycled NBN modem usually clears local issues.
- Is the NBN itself affected? The NBN outage map shows confirmed faults.
- Is the retail ISP affected? The retail ISP's status page covers ISP-specific events.
Reporting an outage
NBN Co does not accept fault reports directly from end customers. All faults must be raised through the retail ISP, which then escalates to NBN Co if needed. The ISP-NBN handover is automated and tracked.
Restoration times
NBN Co publishes wholesale Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that govern how quickly retail ISPs can demand fault resolution. Standard urban repair targets sit around 1 to 2 business days for a major fault, with longer windows in regional and remote zones.
When a power outage causes an NBN outage
Because FTTN, FTTC and HFC connections all depend on equipment that needs electricity, a substantial share of NBN outages are caused by power outages on the local electricity network. The relationship matters: customers checking the NBN status page during a blackout often see no incident reported, because the NBN itself is fine, the issue is local power.
Queensland
When the power is out in south-east Queensland, the relevant distributor is Energex. For the rest of Queensland (Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Mount Isa) the distributor is Ergon Energy.
New South Wales and the ACT
In Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter, power is delivered by Ausgrid. Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra are served by Endeavour Energy. Regional and rural NSW is served by Essential Energy.
Victoria
Eastern Victoria, including the Yarra Valley and Gippsland, is served by AusNet Services. Inner Melbourne, western Victoria and the Mornington Peninsula are served by CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Jemena.
South Australia and Tasmania
South Australia is served by a single distributor, SA Power Networks. Tasmania is served by TasNetworks.
Western Australia
On the South West Interconnected System (Perth and the south-west), the network operator is Western Power and the residential retailer is Synergy. The rest of WA is served by Horizon Power.
NBN, its retailers and the wider Australian internet
For a wider view of how Australia's broadband market is structured, see the Australian internet outage page. Customers do not buy NBN access directly: they sign up with one of the retail ISPs that lease wholesale access. The four largest retail ISPs are Telstra, Optus, TPG and Vodafone. Smaller brands like iiNet, Aussie Broadband and Superloop compete for the rest. When the issue is not with the NBN itself, the retail ISP's status page is the next place to check.