Fast Facts: The Difference Between The Labor and Coalition NBN Plans


Still not sure about the difference between the Coalition NBN plan and that of the sitting Government? This three-minute broadband explained animation will help.

The key differences in construction are clear: Labor’s NBN plan will see the government run fibre-optic cable along damn-near every street in the country to give fibre to each home. That’s called fibre to the premise or FTTP. The ones it can’t reach will be serviced by a wireless service or satellites.

The Coalition, however, wants to run a fibre to the node scheme, which would see fibre-optic cables run along the street and terminate at a big box. The old copper network will be used to deliver service on what’s known as the “last-mile” to the house.

These two plans will also differ in terms of speed and cost, which is the main decision you’ll need to make about which is more important in the lead up to the election.

Labor’s plan is far more expensive than the Coalition’s. Labor’s bill comes in at $37.4 billion, while the Coalition’s will reportedly cost $20.4 billion. Labor’s plan will also take longer, with a delivery date of 2021 compared to the Coalition’s delivery date of 2019. The kicker comes when you look at actual internet speeds: the Coalition promises a speed of 25Mbps download, while the government promises 100Mbps down as well as faster upload speeds.

All we have to decide now is whether it’s going to be worth it.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.