Australia’s NBN Co, the company which is overseeing the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout, has announced the commercial launch of fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) services. With around 2,000 premises understood to be able to connect via such technology initially, the company has confirmed it is already in the process of rolling out FTTB technology to 6,000 homes and businesses in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, while in the long term more than one million homes and businesses across Australia will eventually be able to receive NBN services via FTTB. Trials of the technology meanwhile were said to have seen average downlink and uplink speeds of 89Mbps and 36Mbps respectively, while the launch has been cited as ‘strong foundation’ for the introduction of fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) capability, which is expected to be launched commercially in Q3 2015.
Commenting on this latest development, NBN Co’s chief customer officer, John Simon, said: ‘We have worked with our customers, the retail service providers, to develop the FTTB product and it has been met with enthusiasm from industry. FTTB demonstrates that existing infrastructure has a critical role to play in delivering fast broadband to millions of Australians. Eliminating the need for individual building designs and in-building wiring cuts down on construction time. Removing the need to install new equipment in the home accelerates the ability of people to connect.’
