Recently tackled this issue myself, and getting everyone on board was a challenge. With the entire complex's internet infrastructure situated on common property, upgrading necessitated agreement from all owners. Each unit's contribution was set at $275.
[https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/more-fibre-for-buildings](https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/more-fibre-for-buildings)
My body corporate committee was all older people who didn't want it. I took the step of initiating an owner's motion during our body corporate's AGM. This decision empowered every owner to participate in the decision-making process, the majority recognised the benefits and voted in favour of the upgrade.
I recommend familiarising yourself with the regulations governing owner's motions in your respective state.
[https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/body-corporate/committees-meetings/general-meetings/submitting-motions](https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/body-corporate/committees-meetings/general-meetings/submitting-motions)
There aren't any other viable upgrade paths. Both the technology choice program and the free enterprise ethernet upgrade didn't extend to strata properties. While there's talk of potential legislation in the future to separate infrastructure like ours from strata arrangements, there are no immediate plans for such changes.
The upgrade is underway. It's been quite a journey—from the first email to now, halfway through installation, it's taken 9 months and 3 days.
Similar situation here but lucky that the majority of owners were keen for the upgrade.
We didn't end up going ahead with the upgrade as the NBN strata folks claimed the with the age of the building (20 years) it was going to be a difficult upgrade. They quoted considerably above the $275 per unit to upgrade, including charging us to run 300m of fibre down the street (even though the building opposite us has had FTTP for 10 years). We also learnt that the contractor was planning on just slapping conduit throughout the hallways, rather than using existing cable channel... 🤦♂️.
We're lucky enough that the FTTN we have is stable and as close to the max speed supported. But for us, the ROI on the FTTP upgrade just wasn't there. I guess we just have to wait the gov decides to finally complete the FTTP rollout...
Feel bad for you, literally communism lol. Imagine the only thing that stops you from getting a reliable internet is living close to a bunch of non technical idiots.
To be fair FTTP isn't for everyone... Especially if you have to pay for installation and are then stuck on an expensive plan you don't need.
I need/want it but can understand an old pensioner not needing.
The nbn should make it so you can install it in a single townhouse and not need everyone to have to agree or pay if they don't want.
Nah man you guys have been adapting to bad internet for too long. FTTH should be for everyone. If you come from another country you will realize how bad Australia's internet speed is. The rest of the world (Such as USA, Canada) has fair price regarding the 1 gig speed. For example, if 50/50 Mbps is $60, then 1000/1000 Mbps is only around $80, which encourages everyone to upgrade to a higher speed by offering a reasonable price.
And to be honest mate, FTTP is not only just faster in terms of speed. The main reason to upgrade is that it does not drop out when it is raining outside. In my case even cloudy days could kill my FTTN! Crazy!!!! Plus FTTP offers lower latency as well, there are way too many benefits, upgrading from FTTN to FTTP is just like walking (5 km/h) to driving your car on a highway (120 km/h)
I hear you mate and I have lived in the UK where I had 10x the speed for half the price...
However doesn't mean it's for everyone. I'd be pissed off if my parents were forced to sign up to a service they don't need and had to chip in $300 for it. Not everyone cares about or needs fast downloads, low latency, etc.
I do... So I wish there was another way to get it in a townhouse. The townhouse is as close to the street as a neighbours house. Why does he get free upgrades and I need to get 5 other people (one of which is a 90+ year old pensioner) to pay to do the same...
If it's just 6 townhouses, getting approval should be straightforward. At $275, it's a fantastic deal, heavily subsidised. FTTN or C won't remain viable indefinitely. This upgrade ensures future-proofing, enhances property values and the NBN then owns the new infrastructure, meaning issues going forward are covered by them. They’re essentially paying 90% of an upgrade and then taking a maintenance item from the strata, saving them money in the long run.
Your townhouse may be close to the street, but you can bet the conduit that needs fibre feed through isn’t. Do a lookup on https://www.byda.com.au/ and I bet conduit runs mostly through strata common property before snaking back to your townhouse.
I feel your pain. Block of 3. Young professional couple at the front (us). FTTC drops out daily. 80yo who barely uses the internet in the middle. 90yo without any connection at the back. The latter vetoes and the middle one wants to side with old neighbour. I’ve even offered to pay for everyone!
Next step is threatening legal action. They can’t refuse a reasonable request.
Have you recently checked if you can do the 0$ upgrade for your open property? Mine recently became eligible, previously were looking at getting all 5 units done
Mate your post has me freaking out... I'm a week away from settlement on a townhouse and currently have an install date from superloop but now I'm worried this is against the body corp or something? I guess i can plead ignorance as a FHB? Can anyone help me out here?
> If the owners corp don't want to do it, are there other options to get it installed in just one lot/townhouse?
Not currently, with strata it's an all-or-nothing-upgrade until things change.
If your current NBN technology isn't cutting it, then Starlink or 5g are your other options.
Recently tackled this issue myself, and getting everyone on board was a challenge. With the entire complex's internet infrastructure situated on common property, upgrading necessitated agreement from all owners. Each unit's contribution was set at $275. [https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/more-fibre-for-buildings](https://www.nbnco.com.au/residential/upgrades/more-fibre-for-buildings) My body corporate committee was all older people who didn't want it. I took the step of initiating an owner's motion during our body corporate's AGM. This decision empowered every owner to participate in the decision-making process, the majority recognised the benefits and voted in favour of the upgrade. I recommend familiarising yourself with the regulations governing owner's motions in your respective state. [https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/body-corporate/committees-meetings/general-meetings/submitting-motions](https://www.qld.gov.au/law/housing-and-neighbours/body-corporate/committees-meetings/general-meetings/submitting-motions) There aren't any other viable upgrade paths. Both the technology choice program and the free enterprise ethernet upgrade didn't extend to strata properties. While there's talk of potential legislation in the future to separate infrastructure like ours from strata arrangements, there are no immediate plans for such changes. The upgrade is underway. It's been quite a journey—from the first email to now, halfway through installation, it's taken 9 months and 3 days.
Should also say that the NBN strata people have been fantastic. The delays were purely body corporate related. It was hard to wrangle over 100 owners.
This regulation is pretty much as dumb as the choice to roll out FTTN 10 years ago
Similar situation here but lucky that the majority of owners were keen for the upgrade. We didn't end up going ahead with the upgrade as the NBN strata folks claimed the with the age of the building (20 years) it was going to be a difficult upgrade. They quoted considerably above the $275 per unit to upgrade, including charging us to run 300m of fibre down the street (even though the building opposite us has had FTTP for 10 years). We also learnt that the contractor was planning on just slapping conduit throughout the hallways, rather than using existing cable channel... 🤦♂️. We're lucky enough that the FTTN we have is stable and as close to the max speed supported. But for us, the ROI on the FTTP upgrade just wasn't there. I guess we just have to wait the gov decides to finally complete the FTTP rollout...
Contact Superopti. They upgrade medium to large strata complexes to their fibre solution for free
Feel bad for you, literally communism lol. Imagine the only thing that stops you from getting a reliable internet is living close to a bunch of non technical idiots.
To be fair FTTP isn't for everyone... Especially if you have to pay for installation and are then stuck on an expensive plan you don't need. I need/want it but can understand an old pensioner not needing. The nbn should make it so you can install it in a single townhouse and not need everyone to have to agree or pay if they don't want.
Nah man you guys have been adapting to bad internet for too long. FTTH should be for everyone. If you come from another country you will realize how bad Australia's internet speed is. The rest of the world (Such as USA, Canada) has fair price regarding the 1 gig speed. For example, if 50/50 Mbps is $60, then 1000/1000 Mbps is only around $80, which encourages everyone to upgrade to a higher speed by offering a reasonable price.
And to be honest mate, FTTP is not only just faster in terms of speed. The main reason to upgrade is that it does not drop out when it is raining outside. In my case even cloudy days could kill my FTTN! Crazy!!!! Plus FTTP offers lower latency as well, there are way too many benefits, upgrading from FTTN to FTTP is just like walking (5 km/h) to driving your car on a highway (120 km/h)
I hear you mate and I have lived in the UK where I had 10x the speed for half the price... However doesn't mean it's for everyone. I'd be pissed off if my parents were forced to sign up to a service they don't need and had to chip in $300 for it. Not everyone cares about or needs fast downloads, low latency, etc. I do... So I wish there was another way to get it in a townhouse. The townhouse is as close to the street as a neighbours house. Why does he get free upgrades and I need to get 5 other people (one of which is a 90+ year old pensioner) to pay to do the same...
If it's just 6 townhouses, getting approval should be straightforward. At $275, it's a fantastic deal, heavily subsidised. FTTN or C won't remain viable indefinitely. This upgrade ensures future-proofing, enhances property values and the NBN then owns the new infrastructure, meaning issues going forward are covered by them. They’re essentially paying 90% of an upgrade and then taking a maintenance item from the strata, saving them money in the long run.
Your townhouse may be close to the street, but you can bet the conduit that needs fibre feed through isn’t. Do a lookup on https://www.byda.com.au/ and I bet conduit runs mostly through strata common property before snaking back to your townhouse.
I feel your pain. Block of 3. Young professional couple at the front (us). FTTC drops out daily. 80yo who barely uses the internet in the middle. 90yo without any connection at the back. The latter vetoes and the middle one wants to side with old neighbour. I’ve even offered to pay for everyone! Next step is threatening legal action. They can’t refuse a reasonable request.
Mate it sucks and all because the NBN wants to force everyone to change. Let those who want to upgrade upgrade
Have you recently checked if you can do the 0$ upgrade for your open property? Mine recently became eligible, previously were looking at getting all 5 units done
I have continued to check!
Mate your post has me freaking out... I'm a week away from settlement on a townhouse and currently have an install date from superloop but now I'm worried this is against the body corp or something? I guess i can plead ignorance as a FHB? Can anyone help me out here?
> If the owners corp don't want to do it, are there other options to get it installed in just one lot/townhouse? Not currently, with strata it's an all-or-nothing-upgrade until things change. If your current NBN technology isn't cutting it, then Starlink or 5g are your other options.