VIC govt to bring fibre to 70 more regional communities

Nbn co and the Victorian Government's Connecting Victoria program have announced a $133 million investment to deliver fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology to more than 19,000 homes and businesses across 70 towns and suburbs in regional Victoria.

The upgrade will give residents and businesses access to download speeds of up to one gigabit per second, replacing existing fixed wireless connections in a number of communities.

More than 2,000 homes and businesses in Ararat, Donald, Castlemaine, Horsham, Mortlake, Sebastopol and Wendouree are among those that can swap fixed wireless for fibre under the program.

The first upgrades are expected to be completed in 2027, with the rollout continuing through to 2030.

The investment is enabled by the expansion of nbn co's national fibre upgrade program, which is backed by a Commonwealth funding package of $3.8 billion announced in January 2025, including $800 million from nbn co.

The announcement builds on more than 100,000 homes and businesses across more than 180 towns and suburbs that have already benefited from Connecting Victoria.

"Fast, reliable internet shouldn't be seen as a luxury - in the bush, it keeps communities safe, families connected and businesses open," said Enver Erdogan, minister for government services.

“Labor has invested heavily in regional connectivity in Ballarat and across Victoria – improving access and speed to more than 100,000 homes," said Juliana Addison, member for Wendouree.

In June, 150km of new fibre was laid across six Victorian communities through the state government's Connecting Victoria program, in partnership with Opticomm.