The NBN Fibre-to-the-Node network is now one year old

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 27 September 2016

Fibre-to-the-Node is one! It's been 12 months since Australians could connect to the National Broadband Network through a FTTN connection, and NBN has taken the opportunity to provide a quick update on rollout progress. 745,000 premises are now able to connect to the new broadband network via FTTN technology, and just under a third of these premises have purchased a service.

FTTN technology is a cornerstone of the Coalition's multi-technology mix (MTM) approach to the National Broadband Network rollout. Rather than run fibre directly to an individual premise, fibre is run to a central cabinet - the node - that services the neighbourhood. Customers then connect to the cabinet via the same copper currently being used to facilitate ADSL broadband connections.

Fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) is a similar technology that NBN often groups in with FTTN, but the fibre is run to a central location in an apartment complex.

NBN says customers connected to the National Broadband Network via FTTN will be able to achieve download speeds of 100Mbps provided they are within 400m of the node, and speeds of up 60Mbps if they're more than 700m from the cabinet.

In an address given at the National Press Club this time last year, NBN CEO Bill Morrow said that he expects nine out of ten homes connected to the FTTN network to receive "lightning fast" speeds of between 50Mbps and 100Mbps.

According to NBN's 2017 corporate plan, the company anticipates that between 43% and 54% of premises will be connect to the National Broadband Network via FTTN or FTTB technology. This is up from 38% in the company's 2016 corporate plan.

Related: NBN rollout map

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

Read full bio