NBN Co and Nokia have partnered to deliver a world first demonstration of 83Gbps wholesale download speeds on the live nbn full fibre access network.
The successful demonstration utilised Nokia’s prototype 100 gigabit technology and showcased the world-class capabilities of nbn full fibre to support the next generation of broadband services.
This is the first time the prototype technology has been employed in the ‘real world’ outside of a lab setting.
The demonstration is an important part of the company’s long term network roadmap, which includes exploring next generation technology to support services to homes, businesses and new developments across the country in the future.
The demonstration also showed that the nbn FTTP network can support the coexistence of multiple Passive Optical Network (PON) technologies on the same fibre, offering a potential future where newer technologies can work simultaneously with current-day FTTP technologies and services. This could support the evolution to multigigabit technologies without any need to change nbn’s existing laid cable.
The demonstration comes as nbn is progressively deploying Nokia’s MF-14 optical line terminal (OLT) onto the FTTP network, which supports higher capacity fibre optic broadband technologies.
nbn was the first in the southern hemisphere to deploy Nokia’s MF series OLT.
nbn Chief Network Officer, Dion Ljubanovic, said that this is an incredible result and that it demonstrates the fibre nbn continues to upgrade the network with is only limited by the capabilities of the equipment that will connect to it in the future.
“Fibre offers a faster, reliable and more energy-efficient connection,” Mr Ljubanovic said.
“This is a key driver that propels us to continue to replace copper with fibre across the country and also work closely with Australia’s property development industry to support the creation of vibrant new communities equipped with fibre connectivity.
“The average Aussie home is forecast to download around one terabyte per month within the next decade and technologies, like augmented reality and generative artificial intelligence, will place even greater demand on the network.
“We are always looking for ways to push the capabilities – in both speed and reliability – of the entire nbn network. This successful demonstration shows we have the potential to deliver a step change in next-generation speeds over our network in the long term.”
Nokia Vice President of Broadband Networks, Geert Heyninck, said that there is a huge opportunity for operators to leverage their existing fibre broadband networks to efficiently add advanced services which go beyond consumer services.
“Think enterprise, mobile backhaul, Smart City, industry 4.0. It’s important for service providers to have choices to match the right speed and cost points to meet the different use cases and market requirements they may have,” Mr Heyninck said.
“As the industry’s first and only solution capable of supporting the full range of PON technologies from 10G to 25G, 50G, and even 100G, we can give operators the freedom and flexibility they need to meet their business needs while also helping to optimise network performance and reduce costs.”
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