The short version
NBN Enterprise Ethernet is the premium business product on the NBN. Instead of sharing fibre in the street with other premises, you get a dedicated fibre from your building to NBN’s Fibre Access Node, symmetrical speeds and a fault restoration target that runs 24 hours a day.
- What it is: a wholesale product NBN Co sells to providers. You buy it from a retail provider, never from NBN Co.
- Speeds: symmetrical wholesale tiers up to almost 10 Gbps. Most small and mid-sized offices buy 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps.
- Service levels: NBN Co’s default to providers is 12-hour restoration, 24/7, with 8, 6 and 4 hour options. What you get depends on the retail plan.
- Price: at the time of writing (October 2026), published retail plans run from around $400 a month to $1,500 a month for 1 Gbps, before GST.
- Lead time: typically two to four months where fibre has to be built.
Our recommendation: buy it when upload, consistency or a written restoration target genuinely matters. For a typical office doing email, SaaS and cloud phones, a well-chosen business NBN plan with a 5G backup is usually better value.
What is NBN Enterprise Ethernet?
NBN Co describes Enterprise Ethernet as a “dedicated fibre connection between your premises and nbn’s Fibre Access Node (FAN)”. That single fibre is the main difference from the fibre to the premises (FTTP) most businesses already have. On FTTP, your fibre joins a passive network shared with neighbouring premises. On Enterprise Ethernet, the fibre is yours back to NBN’s access node.
On top of that access, NBN Co supplies:
- Symmetrical speed tiers. The wholesale price list runs from 10 Mbps to 10,000 Mbps, with upload equal to download at every tier. The 2022 upgrade that added tiers above 1 Gbps was described by NBN Co as “up to almost 10 gigabits per second”.
- Three classes of service. High is prioritised with performance commitments, Medium prioritises the first 25% of traffic, and Low is best effort. Most internet plans are sold on Low; High suits voice, video and private networks between sites.
- A business network termination device (BNTD). NBN Co calls it a carrier-grade device. Your router or firewall plugs into it.
- 24/7 assurance. NBN Co supports providers around the clock, with proactive monitoring at the wholesale level.
NBN Co’s own fact sheet sets a 99.95% network availability target for Enterprise Ethernet, against 99.9% for its business plans. Both are targets NBN Co sets for its network, not an uptime guarantee to you.
How does it differ from business NBN and carrier fibre?
People use “business fibre” for three different products. They are worth separating before comparing quotes.
| Business NBN on FTTP | NBN Enterprise Ethernet | Carrier dedicated fibre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre to the premises | Shared passive network | Dedicated to the NBN access node | Dedicated, on the carrier’s own network |
| Speeds | Asymmetric, up to 2000/500 wholesale | Symmetrical, up to almost 10 Gbps | Symmetrical, quoted per site |
| Traffic priority | Best effort | Low, Medium or High class of service | Usually committed bandwidth |
| NBN restoration target to providers | 12 hours, or 4 hours on Business Service Pro (urban) | 12 hours 24/7 by default, 8, 6 or 4 hour options | Set by the carrier’s contract |
| Typical retail price for ~1 Gbps | Low hundreds a month | About $700 to $1,500 a month (Oct 2026) | Quoted per address |
| Who sells it | Most providers | Providers connected to NBN’s Enterprise Ethernet network | The carrier and its resellers |
Carrier dedicated fibre is fibre owned by a carrier rather than NBN Co. Telstra, Optus, TPG Telecom, Vocus, Superloop and Aussie Broadband all run their own fibre in parts of the major cities. Where a carrier’s network already passes your building, its quote can compete well with Enterprise Ethernet. Where it does not, the carrier has to build, and the build charge and lead time usually decide the outcome. Some providers sell both and will quote whichever reaches the address more cheaply.
The side-by-side comparison covers where 5G fits alongside these.
What service levels and restoration targets does it come with?
This is where most of the confusion sits, because there are two layers.
Wholesale (NBN Co to your provider). NBN Co’s service levels schedule sets restoration targets it offers to providers under its Premium Assurance options. The default, Premium-12 (24/7), costs the provider nothing extra. The table below shows the hours, and they run around the clock.
| NBN Co option | No site visit needed, or metro area | Regional centres and rural areas | Remote areas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium-12 (24/7), default | 12 hours | 26 hours | 40 hours |
| Premium-8 (24/7) | 8 hours | 22 hours | 36 hours |
| Premium-6 (24/7) | 6 hours | 20 hours | 34 hours |
| Premium-4 (24/7) | 4 hours | 18 hours | 32 hours |
If NBN Co misses the target, the rebate goes to the provider, not to you.
Retail (your provider to you). Your contract is with the provider, and its service schedule is the one you can rely on. Providers package the NBN options under their own names, such as bronze, silver and gold, and sometimes change the terms. At least one retailer we looked at describes its included restoration as 12 business hours, while NBN Co’s default to providers is 12 hours around the clock. Neither is wrong, but they are not the same thing.
Before signing, ask for:
- The restoration target in hours, and whether it is 24/7 or business hours only
- Whether a regional or remote address has a longer target
- What the provider’s own network and support desk commit to, since many faults are not on the NBN side
- Any service credits, and how you claim them
Who sells NBN Enterprise Ethernet?
Any provider that has connected to NBN’s Enterprise Ethernet network can sell it. That includes national carriers, business-focused providers such as Vocus, Swoop, Aussie Broadband, Superloop and Next Telecom, and wholesalers that supply smaller resellers. NBN Co’s business pages link to a list of participating providers.
Because the access fibre and NBN’s service levels are the same whoever you buy from, the differences between providers are in:
- Their own network and upstream capacity behind NBN
- The class of service and restoration option included in the price
- Contract term, exit fees and whether installation is waived
- Static IPs, managed router options and support quality
- Whether they also offer a 4G or 5G backup, and how it is delivered
What does Enterprise Ethernet cost?
At the time of writing (October 2026), published retail prices for 36-month terms, excluding GST, include:
| Provider | 100 to 250 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 1 Gbps | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vocus | $399 | $469 | $699 | Low class of service, CBD location; build costs may apply |
| Swoop | $399 (250 Mbps) | $499 | $699 | Faster restoration options at $99 or $149 a month extra |
| Next Telecom | $499 to $669 (250 Mbps) | $699 to $889 | $899 to $1,019 | Low class of service, CBD to Zone 1; High class costs more; Zones 2 and 3 on application |
Underneath sit NBN Co’s wholesale charges. Its price list effective 1 September 2026 sets a list charge of $500 a month for a 1 Gbps Low class of service connection, plus a port charge of $100 a month in CBD zones or $200 elsewhere. A current NBN discount brings the 1 Gbps Low charge down to $350 a month, but that discount and several others are scheduled to end on 30 November 2026, so retail prices may move after that.
What drives your price:
- Bandwidth. The biggest single factor, though the steps get smaller above 500 Mbps.
- Class of service. High costs noticeably more than Low.
- Zone. CBD addresses are cheapest; Zones 1 to 3 pay more for the port, and some providers price regional zones on application.
- Restoration option. Faster targets add a monthly charge.
- Term. NBN Co waives its $5,000 standard installation charge for 36-month terms and 75% of it for 24-month terms, and most providers pass that on.
- Build. In a Business Fibre Zone most premises have no up-front build cost. Elsewhere, a build charge may apply.
What business fibre costs goes through every cost line, including in-building cabling.
How is it installed, and how long does it take?
The steps are broadly the same whichever provider you use:
- Address qualification. The provider checks whether the premises is in NBN’s Enterprise Ethernet footprint, whether it is in a Business Fibre Zone, and the price zone.
- Order and design. NBN Co aims to give the provider a committed delivery date within 10 business days of accepting the order. A site survey works out the route from the street into the building and up to your floor.
- Build. New fibre in the street if needed, a lead-in to the building, and a run through the riser to the BNTD location. Building manager or body corporate consent comes in here.
- Install and activation. NBN fits the BNTD, your provider activates the service, and your router or firewall is connected and tested.
NBN Co has said it aims to complete design and construction in most fixed-line business locations within 50 business days, and at least one retailer quotes 50 to 80 business days depending on the area. In practice, allow two to four months, and more where a shopping centre, strata building or council permit is involved. If NBN Co misses its committed delivery date, it pays the provider a rebate, which does not shorten your wait.
Plan an interim connection if the move date is fixed. Internet lead times for a new tenancy covers the sequencing.
When is NBN Enterprise Ethernet worth it?
It earns its price when one or more of these is true:
- The business uploads heavily. Cloud backups, large files to clients, video production, CAD or imaging moving off site.
- Consistency matters more than peak speed. Contact centres and busy cloud phone systems need steady performance at 11am, not just a good overnight speed test.
- Others reach systems at your site. Remote staff, other branches or customers connecting in.
- An hour offline costs real money. A 24/7 restoration target with a 4-hour option is a different promise from a best-effort residential-style service.
- You are linking sites. The High class of service is built for private networks between offices.
It is usually not worth it when:
- The office mainly downloads and uses SaaS, and a business NBN plan with 200 to 500 Mbps upload covers peak use
- The lease is short and the build would not pay back
- The address is outside a Business Fibre Zone and the build quote is large
Whichever you choose, it still needs a backup. A dedicated fibre can be cut like any other, and a 5G failover on a different path is the usual partner.
Check what your address can get
Kookaburra Comms is not a carrier. We check what NBN Enterprise Ethernet, carrier fibre, business NBN and 5G options reach your address, compare the quotes on price, restoration terms and lead time, and then manage the order, the router and the failover once it is live. Send us the address and the upload and install date you need through business internet, and we will tell you what the site can actually get.