news The National Broadband Network Company has signed up four of Australia’s major Internet service providers for its trial of Fibre to the Basement (FTTB) technology in its rollout, with ordinary consumers to be given a chance to test the technology and provide feedback on their experiences.
Under Labor’s NBN policy, some 93 percent of Australian premises were to have received fibre directly to the premise, delivering maximum download speeds of up to 1Gbps and maximum upload speeds of 400Mbps. The remainder of the population was to have been served by a combination of satellite and wireless broadband, delivering speeds of up to 25Mbps.
Originally, the Coalition’s policy was to have seen fibre to the premises deployed to a significantly lesser proportion of the population — 22 percent — with 71 percent covered by fibre to the node technology, where fibre is extended to neighbourhood ‘nodes’ and the remainder of the distance to premises covered by Telstra’s existing copper network. The Coalition’s policy was also to continue to use the HFC cable network operated by Telstra and would also target the remaining 7 percent of premises with satellite and wireless.
However, NBN Co’s Strategic Review published in December last year changed the paradigm, with the company recommending (and the Coalition supporting) a vision in which up to a third of Australian premises will be served by the HFC cable networks of Telstra and Optus, and Fibre to the Node and Fibre to the Basement used in other areas not already covered by Labor’s FTTP approach.
At the company’s first financial results briefing session in Sydney late February, NBN Co revealed it would shortly kick off real-world trials of the planned FTTN and FTTB technology.
This morning NBN Co issued a new statement on the issue, noting that four ISPs — iiNet, M2 Telecommunications, Optus and Telstra — had signed up to participate in the company’s FTTB pilot in the Melbourne suburbs of Carlton, Parkville and Brunswick.
It is estimated that the pilot will run for three months, during which time NBN Co and its telco partners will evaluate all aspects of the construction, installation, operation, service performance and the overall customer experience. NBN Co has installed VDSL2 vectoring equipment, which enables the delivery of high-speed broadband services over each buildings existing telephone cabling, in eight high rises – including a mix of apartments, retail and office buildings.
Preliminary tests of the technology by NBN Co in December 2013 produced download speeds of more than 100 Mbps and upload speeds of more than 40 Mbps.
NBN Co’s Chief Technology Officer, Gary McLaren, said: “According to the Strategic Review, up to 12,000 buildings containing around one million individual premises could be served by FTTB. This pilot scheme, and the Fibre-to-the-Node trials we’re currently scoping, will help us determine the fastest and most cost-effective way to deliver access to high speed broadband sooner.”
“Retail telcos, local councils, the building owners and tenants are all enthusiastic participants in the process. We are now raring to test the consumer experience along with our wholesale customers.”
The company’s Strategic Review, issued in December last year, recommended that the National Broadband Network could be rolled out faster and at a lower cost by combining proven technologies with existing capable networks.”
A similar Fibre to the Node build pilot is also being undertaken in two locations: Umina near Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast and Epping in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. NBN Co will construct two small scale Copper Serving Area Modules, erecting kerbside node cabinets which will connect [NBN fibre] to spare copper pairs in the Telstra pillar. NBN Co has stated that neither site had been earmarked to receive FTTP within the next 12 months under the previous rollout plan.
Both FTTN and FTTB technologies are being used internationally, especially throughout Europe. In July 2013, British incumbent telco BT revealed that its fibre to the node network has passed more than 16 million premises since the network rollout was commenced in 2009, with more than 1.7 million customers having signed up for active connections to the infrastructure.
However, opinions also vary globally as to whether such technologies — based on existing copper networks for the last leg to customers’ premises — will be sustainable in the long-term.
Yesterday, for example, the New Zealand Government’s Crown Fibre Holdings company, which is conducting a predominantly national Fibre to the Premises rollout similar to Labor’s vision, announced that it had agreed on a small package of measures with wholesale telco Chorus that will allow Chorus to deliver UFB services in multi-dwelling units, using only existing Cat 5 Ethernet cable — but not copper. The use of Cat 5 Ethernet inside buildings is not expected to affect the speed of Fibre to the Premises rollouts — while internal copper wiring would be likely to have a substantial impact on the potential speeds.
opinion/analysis
I’d love to hear from consumers or small businesses about their experiences during this trial. Delimiter’s contact form is here if you want to get in touch.
Honestly, FttB is the only part of the CBN plan that is sensible. Why should the tax payer be responsible for wiring up apartment buildings? It’s expensive and time consuming. I also think you would find that the copper in walls is in a much better state than what’s in the ground and right in the butter zone for FttN. If they are running Single Mode into the building with decent capacity, there would be nothing stopping residents from being changed over to Fibre for a nominal cost.
One would assume the most likely scenario for the FttB is that a low strand count, multiplexed fibre run is terminated in a cabinet with a prism splitting out each wavelength in to ~100 pairs. A 1Gbps single mode pair would be hitting each rack of VDSL equipment, thus sharing 1Gbps over 12/24/48 subscribers; easily enough to handle the full demand of all subscribers @ 6pm on a weekday.
Upgrading to full fibre would be an expense for the bodies corporate, but easily achievable with something like a 1000 single wavelength pairs available off a multiplexed building feed. The only advantage I see this would give is that each subscriber would then be able to receive 1Gbps instead of the “up to” 300Mbps VDSL limit, however there would be a massive boost to upload capacity
Indeed, considering all the problems NBNCo has experienced hooking up MDUs it’s somewhat wondrous that an FTTB style roll-out wasn’t considered. It seems to be superior to FTTN, even.
As i understand it, NBNCo last year at the very least while Mike Quigley was in charge, did want to do FTTB to MDUs so that they could be connected quicker.
However Conroy said no to that as it was to be FTTP all the way for the 93%.
Mike Quigley also stated that they were having problems with voice of FTTB.
This *IS* FTTN, its just FTTN where everyone is on a run typically less than 100 meters, where water ingress is typically not an issue.
FTTN can provide some pretty good speeds given you are really close to the node, and your copper isn’t damaged or susceptible to damage by water.
Those against an FTTN NBN aren’t against the *technology* (100/40 is pretty good!) just the outcomes that it will give us. (uneven speeds, maintenance nitemare) which means you *might* get 100/40, bit you will *probably* get 50/5 and you *might* get less than 25/1.
Yeah, you’re correct. The main difference is the run of the ‘last mile.’ It will be much shorter than what it will on FTTN. In Suburbia you might be laughing if you’re right next to the node, but at the other end of the street…. So really we will have a street by street repetition of the current exchange distance problem.
I dont see it as being quite that easy. Old building, sure, the wiring probably isnt anywhere near good enough, so why pay for it, but newer buildings shouldnt be any more difficult than a standard residence.
I watched them pull the phone line through when I connected 7 years ago. Pulling fibre through would be just as easy, you should be able to do it from the MDF box to the phone jack inside the unit. NBN Co could just connect to the MDF box and do the pullthrough when the individual signs on for the NBN
Alternatively, come up with a strata friendly NTD, and simply move the termination point from inside to the basement, then let the strata/owner worry about the expensive last mile copper line.
Is this test phase replacing the current connection of the consumers? Or it would be a separate line? If it will replace the current connection does it mean that the people will still pay for it? since it should be free because taxes is the source of this project..
Nothing the NBN does is funded through taxation; it is funded through debt. (They get a good interest rate because the debt is held by the government).
The debt is repaid (over many months!) by your ISP, when it purchases a wholesale product on your behalf.
In turn; your ISP charges you money for using the product that they have purchased from NBNCo.
Seriously Alex.
After 5 years you still can’t comprehend that the taxpayer was not going to pay it. Remember ALL fixed infrastructure was to be NBN. Achieving what Howard stuffed up massively
It should be noted that Malcolm Turnbull made a substantial change to the policy stating that “locations with less than 1000 premises would be considered for FTTN”.
This policy change was greeted with high expectations across the country from towns and villages who were originally set to get Wireless Towers – many locations already had fibre-optic in the ground, that just needed to be activated with a Node ($50k per 250 users).
This policy would have enabled a large number of locations to get up to 50Mbs. Has Malcolm reneged?
“Coalition’s policy was to have seen fibre to the premises deployed to a significantly lesser proportion of the population — 22 percent — with 71 percent covered by fibre to the node technology, where fibre is extended to neighbourhood ‘nodes’..”
“It should be noted that Malcolm Turnbull made a substantial change to the policy stating that “locations with less than 1000 premises would be considered for FTTN”.”
Which has not changed because the towers are also serving those further out than in the town itself. There has been no change tot he tower location or moving them since the Libs have taken power and they are being built now.
“UFB services in multi-dwelling units, using only existing Cat 5 Ethernet cable — but not copper. The use of Cat 5 Ethernet inside buildings is not expected to affect the speed of Fibre to the Premises rollouts — while internal copper wiring would be likely to have a substantial impact on the potential speeds.”
Cat5 /is/ copper, or UTP to be more specific. I think you mean copper telephone wires (which are cat3).
Cat5 can handle up to 1 Gb for up to 100m using ethernet, while cat3 can only achieve 100 Mb over that distance using VDSL (which means it’s more sensitive to noise and the wire quality).
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