Telstra slashes top NBN speed, hints at 5G FWA

Telstra has dropped a bombshell on the Australian broadband market by abandoning its top tier 100Mbit/s service for its biggest customer segment and hinting at a move to 5G fixed wireless. The company, which has 47% of the NBN broadband market, has told customers using NBN's hybrid fiber-copper networks that from now on the 50Mbit/s service will be its fastest. Australia's A$51 billion (US$33.5 billion) NBN, expected to complete in the middle of the year, is built on a "mixed-technology" model. Fiber runs to approximately 17% of premises, while 22% are served by HFC, 36% by FTTN, 12% by FTTC and the remainder by satellite or fixed wireless.