Australia’s NBN Co announced a new national rollout plan for the National Broadband Network (NBN) based on a multi-technology access strategy, including fiber to the premise (FTTP), fiber to the node (FTTN), wireless and upgraded HFC.
Areas where NBN FTTP has been deployed or is in advanced stages of being built will likely remain part of the FTTP rollout, while areas served by the Optus or Telstra Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) cable networks will likely receive fast broadband over an upgraded HFC network.
The plan covers the next 1.9 million homes and businesses by mid-2016 across more than 400 cities, suburbs and towns, on the path to achieving 8 million connections to the NBN by 2020.
“We’re committed to bringing fast broadband to all Australians as quickly as possible. The new multi-technology approach enables us to do just that. Over the past year, we have carried out successful trials of a range of new technologies, revised our build processes and are renegotiating our partner agreements. As a result of this work, we are able to provide forecasts that reflect the next phase of our network build,” stated NBN Co’s CEO Bill Morrow.
“Naturally some people will be disappointed that they are not included in today’s schedule but ultimately no-one misses out as the NBN will be made available to every Australian family and business by 2020.”
http://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/documents/MTM-rollout-plan-01122014.pdf
- Prior to the elections in 2013 and the subsequent review of national broadband policy, NBN Co. had estimated that it would take nearly a decade to complete the installation of fibre to 93% of premises in Australia. A further 4% were to be reached by fixed-wireless and the remaining 3% to be connected via broadband satellite. In 2011, the total cost of the fibre rollout was estimated A$40.9 billion up to FY2021.
- In December 2013, Bill Morrow was appointed as the new CEO, replacing Mike Quigley. Morrow previously headed up Vodafone Australia since March 2012. Previously, he was Chief Executive of Clearwire Incorporated and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He is a former Europe Chief Executive with Vodafone Group and has run the Group’s businesses in Japan and the UK.
