Australia’s nbn broadband access network initiative surpasses the four million connection milestone — representing the halfway mark of the previously stated goal of connecting eight million homes and businesses by 2020. This compares with approximately 2.4 million connections a year ago.
“With our aim to help bridge the digital divide and see that Australians, regardless of location, have access to fast broadband, we are proud today to announce that the rollout of the nbn access network to regional Australia is on the home stretch. We have seen a massive improvement in regional internet access, with our wholesale broadband services offering more competition, faster speeds and even giving some Australians internet access for the first time,” stated NBN Co’s CEO Bill Morrow.
Key points
- In regional Australia, nearly all homes and businesses outside of major urban areas now in design or construction stages, or able to order an nbn™ service from a phone or internet provider.
- Australia now ranks 17th among OECD countries (up from 29th in 2012) in terms of equality of internet speed and proportion of people without internet access. By 2021, Australia is estimated to move from being in the bottom 10 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in equality of internet access and speed to the top 102.
- The nbn access network is estimated to have helped drive A$450 million in additional gross domestic product in regional Australia in the 2017 financial year and is forecast to drive an additional $5.3 billion in additional gross domestic product in regional areas in FY21.
- The nbn access network is estimated to have helped create an additional 1,750 jobs in regional Australia by the 2017 financial year and this employment impact is forecast to reach up to 20,000 jobs by FY21.
- Annual growth in people working from home in regional areas with access to the nbn access network is significant, at 2.2 per cent per year from 2011–2016 versus a decline in the annual growth rate of 1.1 per cent in regional Australia without access to the nbn™ access network.
- The growth of new businesses in regions connected to the nbn access network accelerated at twice the pace of the national average with up to 5,400 additional new businesses created in 2017.
Australia’s NBN Co launches Fibre-to-the-Curb
NBN Co announced the launch of Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC) access service in its first locations.
NBN Co has provided a limited release of FTTC services to more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Coburg, North Melbourne in Victoria and Miranda, South Sydney in New South Wales. A larger rollout is planned for later this year. The service supports speeds up to 100/40Mbps. Faster speeds will be possible when G.fast becomes available over the copper link into the home. NBC Co expects to launch G.fast later this year too.
“As with the introduction of any new technology, we will continue to gain insights as we navigate the complexity of the build as well as potential issues which can arise when people connect to the network. We are committed to working with internet providers to optimise the customer experience of people who connect the network using nbn™ services over the FTTC network before we make services available to a larger footprint,” stated Brad Whitcomb, NBN Co’s Chief Customer Officer – Residential.
