More than 9,200 homes and businesses across the Ballina Shire will be able to access a simpler path to a full fibre nbn connection after the national broadband provider scrapped a key eligibility requirement for upgrades.

The change, which took effect on July 1, means customers connected via Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) no longer need to sign up to a high-speed internet plan before they can request an upgrade to a full fibre connection.

The announcement affects around 860,000 FTTC customers Australia-wide, including more than 9,200 premises across the Ballina Local Government Area.

FTTC currently uses fibre optic cable to the street curb before relying on older copper cabling for the final connection into homes and businesses. Under the upgrade program, the remaining copper is replaced with fibre optic cable all the way to the premises, improving reliability and allowing access to faster internet speeds.

Previously, most FTTC customers had to order a broadband service based on the nbn’s 100/40 Mbps wholesale speed tier or faster before qualifying for a fibre upgrade. That requirement has now been removed, allowing customers to choose the internet plan that best suits their needs while still accessing the upgrade.

nbn said it is accelerating the replacement of ageing copper infrastructure in the FTTC network because it experiences higher fault rates than its other copper-based technologies.

Acting Head of Regional Engagement NSW David Crough said the change would make it easier for more people to connect to faster broadband.

“Full fibre not only offers multi-gig speeds, but is also far more reliable, more responsive, and more resilient through storms, floods and fires,” he said.

More than 1.3 million customers have already upgraded from copper-based services to full fibre through nbn programs, with around 45,000 upgrades completed in May alone—a 19 per cent increase compared with the same month last year.

Residents and businesses can check whether they are eligible for an upgrade by contacting their internet service provider or visiting the nbn website.

Photo: More than 9,200 homes and businesses across Ballina Shire can now upgrade to full fibre on the nbn without signing up to a high-speed internet plan first.