Coalition NBN could reach gigabit speeds by 2030 A table in the report outling potential upgrade paths. The fixed-line portion of the Coalition's version of the national broadband network could be upgraded to super-fast gigabit broadband speeds by 2030, according to the NBN strategic review tabled in Parliament on Thursday. Although the Coalition has not announced its plans for an upgrade, the strategic review has suggested that the fixed-line portion of the Coalition's NBN could achieve 250 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2025 and one gigabit per second (Gbps, or 1000 Mbps) by 2030. A report given to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull shows an upgrade path to gigabit broadband. The former Labor government committed to rolling out fibre-to-the-premise technology to 93 per cent of the Australian population, with eventual download speeds of up to 1000Mbps. The first of the 1 Gbps products will be available to wholesalers this month. The review doesn't say how much it will cost the government to upgrade to such speeds, but says making them available at a later date will save billions of dollars. About $5 billion would be saved if the government decided to roll out 250Mbps in 2025 and $4 billion would be saved if gigabit speeds were made available in 2030, rather than rolling out fibre-to-the-premise technology now. To reach 250 Mbps, the review recommends using a technology still in the early stages of development called G.fast, which vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent say has a lot of potential but others have said is not a silver bullet. The review recommends using G.fast on the fibre-to-the-node portion of the network and the DOCSIS 3.1 standard to upgrade existing hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) networks to faster speeds. G.fast, which is likely to be available in a number of years, allows for download speeds of up to 1.3 Gbps at distances of around 70 metres. It works by reducing line noise on copper used in a fibre-to-the-node rollout for the last mile to the home. To reach 1 Gbps in 2030, the review recommends upgrading to fibre-to-the-premise. A spokesman for Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Fairfax Media the Coalition government had not yet announced its policy on an upgrade for the NBN. But Mr Turnbull noted the cheaper upgrade path in Parliament. "Even accepting that fibre-to-the-premise is the end game - and there's a big question mark over that - if the upgrade was only five years after the fibre-to-the-node [rollout] it would still be a wiser and more prudent economic decision," Mr Turnbull said. He told Parliament the strategic review found that the Coalition's plan would save $32 billion compared with Labor's scheme. As such, it would allow the network to earn a financial return "roughly comparable" to government bonds. The review was "a highly professional piece of work prepared in a very tight time" and had obtained input from the NBN Co, consultants and representatives from broadband companies in Britain and New Zealand, Mr Turnbull said. Waving NBN Co's leaked incoming government brief, opposition communications spokesman Jason Claire told Parliament it was the "real" review of the Coalition alternative broadband network. It's the report the minister doesn't want the public to see. It paints a very, very different picture," Mr Claire said. It paints a scathing picture [of the Coalition government's NBN plan]. Among seven points Mr Clare said the brief raised was a projection that maintaining Telstra's copper network would cost between $600 million and $900 million over 10 years. Wouldn't it be better investing that money in building the fibre network than in maintaining the copper network? Mr Clare asked. Because the NBN is so important, it's important that it's done right. That means done using fibre and not copper which we will have to come back and replace. Afterwards Mr Turnbull said Mr Clare was "placing his faith in a document written by an executive team that were wrong the first time, the second time, the third time and the fourth time." On the other hand, we have a new and experienced board, we have new and experienced management, we have leading consultants ... and not one that is being asked to reverse a political statement or policy. Mr Clare criticised Mr Turnbull for focusing on Europe, where similar fibre-to-the-node schemes have been implemented. We're part of Asia, not Europe. We should be thinking ahead, thinking to the future to make sure we're setting ourselves to compete in the Asian century. This reporter is on Facebook: /bengrubb