CANBERRA: Aussie Broadband said it has experienced a 5.5pc uptick in its customer base for 1Gbps plans when the ISP began to offer the service in May.

“In our view, [demand is] much stronger than we actually anticipated in those plans,” MD Phillip Britt, pictured, told the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network late last week. “We think it could get to 10 percent within a couple of years.”

Britt said that, as it currently stands, NBN is only offering its 500-1000Mbps plans on 18pc of its network, which consists of all its fibre-to-the-premises footprint, and an initial seven percent of the HFC network.

“We believe that, in time, it might be available to offer fibre-to-the-curb footprint as well – the technology certainly supports it, it’s something NBN needs to enable.”

The Aussie Broadband boss also said that there are “very few people that actually need that kind of speed”.

“It’s one of those things. If it’s available, and I’ve got the income to support it – because I mean that ultrafast plan is a $150 a month sort-of-thing – then I’ll want it and I have it,” Britt said.