Connected and thriving: new NBN report reveals the real social benefits of fast internet

Since 2020, almost every aspect of life, work and social norms has changed drastically. Covid-19 has ushered in a world where working from home, online classes and telehealth appointments are as commonplace as in-person attendance. NBN Co's latest research report reflects this — and, more broadly, has found improving satisfaction levels of everyday Aussies using the internet.

NBN Co's third annual Social Impact research report, conducted by Ember Advisors, found that 77% of NBN users surveyed reported that having the NBN network at home had a positive impact on their satisfaction with life in FY25. This extends to virtual appointments and attendance, with results finding:

• 43% of users are using telehealth appointments regularly (up from 34% in FY23)
• 21% of users studying from home regularly (up from 12% in FY23)
• 38% of users working from home at least once a week (up from 31% in FY23)

Better yet, Aussies are apparently feeling more connected socially, with 91% of users using the internet to connect with family and friends (up from 88% in FY23). The report chalks this up to "digital inclusion", which is the ability of everyone to access, afford and effectively use digital technologies (the internet, devices and services) to participate in modern society.

Easy access to high-speed internet has apparently been a key factor for improving digital inclusion and driving those positive results. According to the findings, 53% of surveyed participants reported feeling more productive at work when working from home, and some 72% felt more connected to friends and family as a result of their high-speed internet plans.

In September 2025, NBN Co's Accelerate Great initiative introduced high-speed NBN tiers — NBN 500, NBN 750 and NBN 2000 — into the Australian market. These tiers have already proven fruitful, as by the end of last year, 41% of customers were on 100Mbps plans or above, and 31% were on plans of at least 500Mbps. What's more, these faster tiers have propelled Australian median global broadband rankings, as recorded by Ookla, to a massive 164.98Mbps, up from 94.89Mbps in August 2025.

Alongside this, the average monthly data download rate per customer across all technologies nationally has risen to 557GB, which is a modest 13% increase year-on-year.

Taking advantage of faster internet speeds

Regardless of having all the benefits listed above, there are still plenty of Aussies connected to slower internet plans. As per the ACCC's latest quarterly report, despite a large uptick in active services of 100Mbps and above, the NBN's most popular speed tier continues to be NBN 50, with 3.12 million active connections.

While that could provide adequate speeds for many Australian homes, the fact remains that there's never been a better time to take advantage of NBN Co's free fibre rollout. There are more than just the obvious increased speed benefits to upgrading to a full-fibre connection, as the superior fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) technology has been proven to suffer from fewer interruptions and outages. If you connect to the NBN via an inferior fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) or fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) technology and experience frequent disruptions, then it may be time to switch to full-fat fibre.

All you need to do is enter your address into NBN Co's eligibility checker to see if your area is next in line for an FTTP upgrade. Next, you will need to place an order for an NBN plan with speeds of 500Mbps or more. This is because slower plans don't generally require fibre to function at their full potential, so if you elect to receive the free FTTP upgrade, then you're expected to sign up to a plan that can take advantage of it.

After you've confirmed eligibility, you can then order a new NBN plan through a participating provider. This in itself can be a slightly daunting task, especially if you don't know what NBN speed you and your household need. As someone who writes about NBN plans almost every day, allow me to offer a bit of guidance.

For households with four people or more, I recommend opting for a 500Mbps plan. Most options on this new tier hit advertised maximum speeds of 500Mbps downloads and 50Mbps uploads during the typical evening hours of 7pm to 11pm, meaning you'll have minimal to no interruptions if you're all online and using multiple devices at the same time.

When it comes to NBN 500 plans, my top recommendation is Exetel's AU$80p/m One Plan, which has the cheapest ongoing price for the tier. Exetel's offer truly shines for long-term value – although it doesn't have an introductory discount, the low monthly fee means you'll make up for it in the longer term.

Exetel | NBN 500 | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$80p/m

Exetel's One plan (a.k.a. its only plan) advertises massive speeds of 500Mbps download and 40Mbps upload during typical evening hours. If you're a heavy internet user, gamer or streamer, Exetel's plan should offer plenty of download bandwidth and no interruptions.

Typically, introductory offers are the factor that prompts us to recommend one NBN plan over another. But ongoing rate here is so low that it's cheaper than many NBN 100 plans and delivers five times the speed for a total yearly cost under AU$1,000.

Total minimum cost: AU$80 | Total yearly cost: AU$960

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If you're interested in more NBN 500 plans, you can check them out in the widget below.

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