ELIGIBLE residential homes and businesses in parts of Chiltern can now place an order to upgrade their NBN connection to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP).

These upgrades will be available on demand where a customer in an eligible premise seeks a higher speed service through their Retail Service Provider.

This will allow residents and businesses to take advantage of the faster speeds which are increasingly important in a digital society and economy.

To further expand the benefits of fibre connections, the Australian Government has also committed to enabling an additional 1.5 million premises to transition from Fibre to the Node (FTTN) to Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) by 2025 – a significant proportion of which will be in regional areas.

Independent MP for Indi Helen Haines welcomed the announcement.

"This is good news for Chiltern and will hopefully allow more people to access high–speed internet, which is vital for running a small business, studying, working from home and more," Dr Haines said.

"I look forward to learning more about this program and how it could be rolled out to more towns in Indi.

"It's important that in accessing programs like this, regional people don't face exorbitant costs which people in larger cities don't face.

"I have already met Minister Rowland to speak about the communications needs in Indi and I will always work hard to make sure the government is listening when it comes to better phone and internet coverage."

Under the Australian Government's plan:

• Around 80 per cent of all regional and remote premises will have access to plans based on wholesale speeds of 100 Mbps or more by late 2025 – this was estimated at 33 per cent in March 2022.

• 93 per cent of all Australian homes and businesses will have access to plans based on wholesale speeds of 100 Mbps or more.

• Close to 90 per cent of the NBN fixed–line footprint will have access to plans based on wholesale speeds of 500Mbps to close to gigabit speeds.

For more information on upgrade eligibility, visit www.nbn.com.au/fibreupgrade.

Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said the NBN is a key investment in the nation's future.

"Since 2009, the network has kept Australians connected, supported tele–health and remote education, and boosted economic productivity by expanding access to new customers for small businesses, Ms Rowland said.

"The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring that Australians get the full benefit of NBN's potential by enabling as many NBN lines to access full fibre connections as possible."

"Eligible local residents and businesses in Chiltern will now be able to take advantage of higher speed services as a result of this announcement. Expanding fibre access will ensure Australians are at the forefront of digital connectivity and will help bridge the digital divide."