What is Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband?

Written by Sarah Edwards, Communications Officer

Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband is a classification for a type of broadband connection in Australia that uses a network of high-speed fibre optic cabling to deliver the internet. Some folks also refer to it colloquially as ‘Fibre to the Home’ or ‘FTTH’.

The entire trip your connection takes to and from the premises travels on fibre cabling from the nearest Point of Interconnect (POI) to a pit nearby, then continues to travel via high-speed fibre cabling to the Network Termination Device (NTD) installed indoors.

Graphic diagram that illustrates the infrastructure of a NBN Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection. From left to right, there is: 'Fibre Optic Cable' connected to 'Pit', then 'Fibre Optic Cable' connecting to 'PCD' (Premises Connection Device) attached to the property, which is connected to 'NBN connection box' inside the house, which then connects to 'Optional battery backup' and 'Gateway Router'. 'Devices' depicting a TV and smartphone appear to be wirelessly connected to the 'Modem/Router'.

Map of NBN's Fibre to the Premises infrastructure

The Network Termination Device acts like a modem and handles the configuration of your broadband connection. All the user needs to do is connect their router (a modem/router works, too) to one of the UNI-D ports on this device to get an internet connection going.

Graphic image of a NBN Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) Network Termination Device (NTD). From left to right there is: two 'Voice (UNI-V) ports, a pinhole labelled 'Reset', four 'Data (UNI-D) ports', a plug for 'Power', and a connection labelled 'Fibre optic'.

The NTD typically has four UNI-D ports (some OptiComm connections have two). When we connect your internet, we’ll send you an email and SMS to let you know which one to plug your router into.

The maximum potential speeds for this type of connection are 1000mbps (megabits per second) when downloading, and up to 1000mbps when uploading. There are many factors as to why a connection may be achieving lower speeds – for improving on slow speeds, check out some of our troubleshooting guides here.