More than 19,000 Victorian homes and businesses across 70 communities, mostly regional, are set to be upgraded to full fibre (fibre to the premises, or FTTP) under a new $133 million program announced on 22 October 2026. The first upgrades are expected to finish in 2027, with the rest rolling out through to 2030. If you live in one of the communities, you can check your address now, but the full list of locations and any cost to households were not published in the announcement.
What was announced
The program is a partnership between NBN Co and Connecting Victoria, and the Victorian Government says it is enabled by the Commonwealth's $3.8 billion funding package announced in January 2025, which includes $800 million from NBN Co. Upgraded premises get FTTP connections with download speeds of up to 1 Gbps.
The release names seven towns where more than 2,000 homes and businesses can move from fixed wireless to fibre: Ararat, Donald, Castlemaine, Horsham, Mortlake, Sebastopol and Wendouree. The other communities were not listed in the release.
What is still unknown
The announcement does not say whether households will pay anything for the upgrade, or when each individual community will be done beyond the broad 2027 to 2030 window. Treat any claim of a specific date or a guaranteed free install for your street as unconfirmed until NBN Co confirms it for your address.
Our take
This is good news for regional Victorians stuck on fixed wireless, where evening congestion and speed caps are the usual complaints. But a 2027 to 2030 window is a long runway, so do not hold off fixing a poor connection today on the strength of it. If your current service is unreliable, compare providers now on a month-to-month or short-term basis rather than locking into a long contract, so you can move to a fibre plan when your address opens up. And if you are in a metro area, this program is not about you: the free upgrades for copper-connected homes are covered in our Fibre Connect piece.
What to do
Use the address checker on the NBN Co website to see whether your property is included, or register for updates at nbn.com.au/register. Once you are eligible, plan choice matters: see our NBN speed tiers guide to work out which tier suits your household before you order.
Sources: Office of the Premier of Victoria, "Fibre To The Front Door For 70 More Communities" (22 October 2026); NBN Co media statement, "More than 19,000 Victorian homes and businesses to benefit from full fibre expansion" (22 October 2026).
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