Households with a fibre-to-the-node connection - the slowest of the NBN Co's fixed technologies - will get an upgrade when augmented reality, virtual reality and ultra high definition internet television become mainstream, the company's chief executive told a Senate committee on Tuesday night.

Bill Morrow said these futuristic applications will need much faster speeds like 50 megabits per second [Mbps] or 100 Mbps.

NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow. Credit:Daniel Munoz

"Let's assume within five years [that technology] is going to be here en masse," he said.

"When we see that people are willing to pay more than what they are paying today for 25 Mbps, then we will build a business case [for an upgrade]."