NBN™ due to launch first FTTN sites this month!

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nbn have announced that the first live sites for fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) technology will be available to order before the end of September 2015. The Coalition government has decided that a mixed technology approach is their preferred option for the nbn rollout, and as such around 38% of the homes and businesses in Australia will receive nbn services using FTTN technology.

FTTN technology is where Internet services are delivered to the street via fibre optics. They are then terminated in a node, and delivered from the node to the home or business using the existing copper cabling.

There is massive debate around whether or not this is the best technology to use. One argument is that FTTN can be delivered more quickly and at a cheaper price that fibre-to-the-premises. The other argument is that it is not future proof and still relies on the very old copper cabling, consequently being less reliable.

Most premisesthat are connected via the FTTN technology are expected to received speeds around 50Mbps, but some say speeds of up to 500Mbps may be achievable over short distances of copper. There is currently a lot of research and development happening around the world with FTTN technologies. The Coalition say that the majority of customers using FTTN technology will be less than 400 metres from their nearest node.

FTTN services will be rolled out across the country, however some of the first sites are due to be inNew South Wales and Queensland.