New Connections - the newsletter for access seekers

In April 2012, NBN Co plans to launch its fixed wireless network trial. It will offer telephone and internet service providers a 12 mbps (download) / 1 mbps (upload) wholesale service*. This will allow service providers to offer end users with a highly reliable and potentially faster broadband service than what is currently available in these first release locations. The service will be launched in the areas surrounding major regional centres progressively around the Australia.

Utilising the latest 4G technology, the fixed wireless service differs from mobile wireless networks in that it is designed to serve a designated number of homes and businesses, each with their own wireless receiver. We expect that this will enable us to deliver a highly reliable and potentially faster broadband service in the specific coverage area. We anticipate higher speeds becoming available as technology advances and the network is upgraded over time.

The trial is expected to last six months and will be preceded by network testing activities in Armidale. Armidale, Tamworth and Toowoomba will be the first areas to have the trial services available, followed by Ballarat, Darwin and Geraldton.

Service providers will also have the ability to facilitate pre-orders and pre-installations in the weeks leading up to the April launch.

During the six month trial period, NBN Co will not charge for the fixed wireless access services.

To find out more about offering the NBN fixed wireless service to your customers; please contact your NBN Co account manager.

NBN Co is currently building fibre infrastructure in over 90 new developments spread across 65 locations nationally, comprising almost 5,000 premises.

There are live developments in New South Wales where retail service providers can already access NBN Co’s wholesale broadband services.

In addition, we have approved applications with developers to build fibre in approximately 500 separate towns and suburbs over the next 12 months, comprising over 67,000 premises nationally.

Find out where NBN Co is rolling out fibre in new developments

NBN Co has released a new industry consultation paper for Business and Enterprise Fibre Access Services for feedback by 17 February 2012. The document provides an overview of the features and functionality that we propose to make available to our customers to support their downstream small and medium sized businesses, as well as larger enterprise and government organisations.

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Market Perspectives shares the latest trends and insights from around the world. In January’s Market Perspectives we focus on the data usage impact across different internet activities.

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NBN Live showcases applications that could benefit from the National Broadband Network. In this month's NBN Live we showcase Labshare, a remote laboratory that enables students and teachers to interact with real physical equipment and conduct real experiments using the internet.

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Our January Ready for Service Plan is now available for download. The Monthly Ready for Service Rollout Plan is released each month, covering the Rollout Regions that have entered design and construction within the Fibre and Wireless footprints.

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* NBN Co is designing the NBN to be capable of delivering these speeds to NBN Co’s wholesale customers (telephone and internet service providers) via fibre, fixed wireless and satellite. Speeds actually achieved by retail customers (end users) will depend on a number of factors including the quality of their equipment and in-premises connection, the broadband plans offered by their service provider and how their service provider designs its network to cater for multiple end users.