NBN fibre rollout
NBN fibre services are now available in eight Australian communities:
- NSW – Armidale, Kiama
- Qld – Townsville
- SA – Aldinga (Aldinga Beach)
- Tas – Midway Point, Scottsdale, Smithton
- Vic – Brunswick
A number of service providers have already released their broadband and telephone pricing plans, with a range of different price points and service levels for broadband, voice and bundled services. For more information on NBN service providers visit NBN Co’s website.
On 15 February 2012 NBN Co released an update to its 12-month national fibre rollout schedule. The updated schedule lists 66 sites across the country, comprising more than 758 000 premises, where work on the fibre network is completed, underway or will begin by December 2012.
The time taken from start of construction to services being available is about 12 months.
Early in 2012 NBN Co will also issue its first three-year indicative fibre rollout plan, which will be updated annually until the rollout is complete.
For more information on the 12-month national fibre rollout schedule visit NBN Co’s website.
NBN fixed wireless rollout
NBN Co has brought forward the introduction of the NBN fixed wireless network so that regional and rural Australians can get access to better broadband as soon as possible.
The first five communities to be connected to the NBN’s high-speed fixed wireless network are in the less densely populated centres surrounding:
- Ballarat (Vic)
- Darwin (NT)
- Geraldton (WA)
- Tamworth (NSW)
- Toowoomba (Qld)
Services are expected to be available in these locations from the middle of 2012.
The NBN fixed wireless network will initially offer peak download speeds of 12 megabits per second (Mbps). NBN Co anticipates higher speeds becoming available as technology advances and the network is upgraded.
The NBN fixed wireless rollout, which uses the latest 4G technology, is expected to be complete by 2015.
For more information on the NBN fixed wireless rollout, including indicative coverage maps of the five first release communities, visit NBN Co’s website.
NBN satellite rollout
Ahead of the 2015 launch of its long term satellite network, NBN Co has put in place an interim service.
The NBN Interim Satellite Service (ISS) provides eligible rural and regional Australians with immediate access to enhanced broadband services.
This new commercial service is targeted at customers who do not have access to a metro-comparable broadband service.
The ISS uses existing satellite capacity and new ground infrastructure to offer users peak speeds of six megabits per second (Mbps) download and one Mbps upload.
This will provide a significant improvement to those who use satellite broadband today.
NBN Co manages end user eligibility for the service through a set of business rules, ensuring that first priority is given to those who do not have alternate broadband access.
The interim service is scheduled to run until 2015 when NBN Co plans to launch two of its own high-capacity satellites.
As part of the NBN long term satellite service NBN Co has signed a contract for the delivery of two Ka-band satellites and associated tracking, telemetry and control systems.
These two new satellites mean that upon launch in 2015 NBN Co will be able to offer a 12 Mbps download and one Mbps upload service, at uniform national wholesale prices, to premises outside the NBN fibre and fixed wireless footprints.
For more information on ISS eligibility visit NBN Co’s website or freecall 1800 881 816.
