A steadily increasing demand for faster internet means the National Broadband Network needs to heavily reinvest in its technology or risk losing customers to high-speed alternatives and becoming a “white elephant”, a telecommunications expert warned.

New data from broadband plan comparison site WhistleOut shows that interest in NBN’s higher-speed 100 megabits-per-second plan (Mbps) has more than doubled in the past three years; interest in low-speed broadband plans has all-but collapsed; and interest in ultra-high-speed plans has blossomed, increasing more than fourfold in the past two years.