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Australia’s national broadband network to roll out FTTdp to 700,000 premises instead.
Australia’s NBN this week abandoned plans to use Optus’ hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network and will deploy fibre-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp) instead.
The decision effectively confirms the veracity of claims made in documents leaked to Fairfax Media in November 2015: that Optus’ HFC network was not fit for purpose.
This is the same network that – under its 2011 corporate plan – NBN was willing to compensate Optus to the tune of up to A$800 million (€546.6 million) for so it could be decommissioned and its users migrated to the new NBN.
NBN’s corporate plan was revised in late 2014 following the adoption of the multi-technology-mix (MTM) strategy, with NBN agreeing an option to purchase and use parts of Optus’ HFC network as needed.
Now though, NBN will push ahead with an FTTdp rollout covering 700,000 premises within Optus’ HFC footprint.
"When we consider the advancements we’ve made in FTTdp, combined with the up-to-date learnings we have on the Optus HFC network, NBN has confirmed it will deploy FTTdp in those areas where the use of the Optus HFC network was planned, with the exception of the already launched network in Redcliffe, Queensland," said Peter Ryan, NBN’s chief network engineering officer, in a statement on Wednesday.
In an FTTdp scenario, fibre is deployed to a junction box within a few metres of an individual premises. It offers better performance than fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) because it uses shorter copper cables for the final drop, but is cheaper than a fully fledged fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) rollout.
Ryan said HFC "remains a highly valued part" of NBN’s multi-technology mix (MTM) strategy.
"However, in balancing the requirements to convert Optus’ current network architecture and design to be NBN-ready, and the opportunity to introduce FTTdp, makes the new technology compelling in these selected areas," he said.
