Flawed FTTN nbn could cost billions, says IA
nbn co's use of copper-based FTTN is flawed and should be discontinued, according to Internet Australia (IA).
IA has called on the government to commit to using fibre to the kerb as the primary component in the remainder of the nbn rollout.
According to Executive Director Laurie Patton, IA has been advocating fibre to the kerb (otherwise known as fibre to the distribution point, or FTTdp) for more than a year now. He believes that serious problems being faced by nbn customers with FTTN, who are being relegated to being 'second-class digital citizens'.
"It's a shame nbn co won't admit their use of ageing copper (FTTN) is a mistake that will cost billions to replace," said Patton.
"Meanwhile, Australians are suffering with inferior broadband, customer complaints are rising and the worst is yet to come."
IA has previously noted that the nbn construction is only half complete, and many of the more rundown sections of Telstra's copper network still need to be dealt with. The company wants to see a bipartisan policy rethink, given that many prospective customers are reluctant to switch to the nbn.
"The issues already plaguing the rollout will be exacerbated as they rush to complete the project. The sooner we abandon FTTN the better. So we call on the government to switch to FTTdp immediately, in the national interest," said Patton.
"Halfway through construction less than 50% of premises passed by the nbn have actually been connected up. This is no coincidence. They keep hearing complaints about the difficulties getting connected and then people's disappointment at the slow speeds being experienced.”
When the project is completed in 2020, nbn co will be facing the need to 'upgrade' all the premises with FTTN.
"It's not really an upgrade anyway, because they'll have to rip out all the copper wiring and the so-called 'nodes' will be redundant. Nobody knows exactly how much this will cost us all, but we're talking billions of dollars,” said Patton.
Ericsson unveils Enterprise 5G portfolio
Ericsson’s Enterprise 5G product line is aimed at improving adoption of private 5G networks...
Cradlepoint launches 5G-ready SASE solution
Cradlepoint NetCloud SASE has been designed to combine SD-WAN and zero trust networking security...
Government raises $721.2m from 5G spectrum sale
Telstra has emerged as by far the biggest spender in an auction of mid-band 5G spectrum which...
