Back in 2011, Armidale in NSW became the first place in mainland Australia to get access to the nbn network. Since then, the nbn network’s reach and impact have exploded across the state and country. Recent data from nbn has shown that in the past 10 years, data consumption across NSW has grown by more than 700 per cent.

So, what has been the impact of the nbn network on NSW businesses over the years?

By enabling increased productivity, enhanced remote working capabilities, and expansion into new markets,  access to nbn connectivity has delivered long-term positive impacts for NSW businesses and is helping them to thrive in a complex economic backdrop.

The most recent economic modelling by Accenture (commissioned by nbn) highlights that nbn’s efforts to uplift the nation’s digital capability have contributed $37.5 billion to NSW GDP in the decade to 2022.

This huge boost is attributed to enhanced productivity and growth opportunities for businesses connected to the network. The reality of e-commerce and the expansive online marketplace was brought to life during the COVID pandemic.

The nbn network rollout and its impact on the state's business landscape continue to grow, helping pave the way for a truly digital future.

Over the decade, high-speed nbn connectivity enabled the creation of 28,900 businesses and led to 52,200 new jobs overall in NSW.  

With access to high-speed internet and cloud-based resources, businesses in regional areas could now also tap into new markets and opportunities on a global scale, allowing the state to showcase the best it has to offer.

Based on ongoing Fixed Line and Fixed Wireless network upgrades, and the uptake of higher speed tiers, Accenture has also predicted that average wholesale download speeds across the nbn network ® will more than double by 2030, allowing the economic boosts of high-speed internet to likely improve in years to come.

More information is available on the nbn website here. The report is available for download Accenture Economic and Social Impact Report 2024 as well as Accenture Economic and Social Impact Report 2024 – Methodology Report

Important highlights for Australia:

  • A faster, higher capacity and more reliable nbn network will improve Australia’s GDP by a total of about $400b over the next eight years (2023 – 2030). 
  • For the first time in Australia, a statistically significant data set has been used to model the relationship between increases in average broadband speed over time and its impact on key economic indicators including productivity and GDP, employment, and new business starts.
  • For every one Megabit per second (Mbps) increase in average broadband speed, Australia’s productivity-driven GDP increased by 0.04 per cent, on average, in the period from 2012 to 2022.
  • Increasing broadband speeds delivered greater economic inclusion – creating about 170,000 jobs and 87,000 businesses across Australia between 2012 and 2022, and a further 113,000 additional jobs and 55,000 additional businesses expected between 2023 and 2030.
  • Higher speeds also help boost female workforce participation, with about 101,000 of those jobs being filled by women.
  • The productivity benefit of increasing broadband speeds is 16 times greater in remote communities and two times greater in regional communities relative to major cities.
  • The productivity benefit of increasing broadband speeds is five times greater in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.
  • In 2023, the average speeds now sit around 53 Mbps, with 76 per cent of this uplift estimated to be contributed by nbn.

This article was provided by nbn.