nbn has begun construction of its world-leading Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) access technology, which will provide access to the NBN by delivering fibre straight to the driveway of premises.
nbn is the first broadband wholesaler in the world to roll the FTTC technology out on a mass scale, and is now being trialled in Coburg outside of Melbourne. The trial is designed to evaluate the construction and installation of its deployment ahead of the nationwide build that will commence in the coming months.
nbn is also working with retailer customers to develop a FTTC product, which is scheduled to be available to consumers and businesses by mid-2018.
nbn’s Chief Network Engineering Officer, Peter Ryan, said, “We will be focusing our efforts in the next few months on ensuring we understand how to scale the FTTC network rollout across the country, and also working with our retail customers to trial the product in preparation for its launch next year.
“By the time the rollout is complete in 2020, there will be more than one million homes and businesses across the country who will be able to enjoy the benefits of fast broadband by connecting to the nbn network using the FTTC technology through their retailer.
“Our decision to roll this technology out at scale means there is a small number of homes and businesses which will have a revised timeline on when they will be able to connect to the nbn network.”
The NBN is currently available to almost one in two Australians, is scheduled to be three quarters built by mid-2018 and complete by 2020.