The NBN has admitted that only 1-in-4 users connecting through fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) will be able to access its fastest speeds.
The company made the admission to a parliamentary committee, amid growing pressure for the government to write down the value of the multi-billion dollar endeavour.
The NBN has reportedly stated that after rollout concludes in 2020, three of four FTTN users are not expected to access download speeds of 100Mbps.
FTTN is heralded the most controversial of the NBN’s connection technologies, utilsing fibre to the nearest neighbourhood node, and copper wire to the customer’s premises.
Users most dependent on FTTN connections are reportedly those in suburban and semi-rural areas – including Geelong and some outer regions of Sydney.
Users with FTTP (fibre to their premises), FTTB (fibre to their building) or FTTC (fibre running down their street to the curb) are forecast to be able to access the top speed plans.
An NBN spokesperson claims that 90% of users accessing NBN through wire methods will be able to get speeds up to 50 Mbps in 2020, and all at least 25 Mbps. Future network upgrades will also be conducted after rollout.
The spokesperson states that the NBN’s annual revenues after rollout are forecast to be $5 billion.
The NBN Co has not provided an official figure on the number of premises which will be solely be connected by FTTN in 2020.
