Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) company has begun deploying its fibre-to-the-curb[1] (FttC) network across Sydney and Melbourne, with the service bringing fibre closer to the home for 1.5 million premises[2] by installing it in pits at the end of customers' driveways.
While the network technology will provide faster speeds for end users than its fibre-to-the-node (FttN) network, NBN has emphasised the added complexity and time in rolling out the network by showcasing the process involved in Sydney on Tuesday.
NBN chief engineering officer Peter Ryan told ZDNet that it takes around five months from start to finish to connect an FttC area serving around 2,500 premises -- although variability is quite high due to the need to bore along footpaths.
NBN contractors begin boring in Burwood, Sydney. (Image: Corinne Reichert/ZDNet)
Prior to the boring process, however, workers have to first locate any existing cabling in the ground, such as other telco services, water, power, and gas, which could take between one and three days to locate. According to contractors working on an FttC boring site in Burwood, Sydney, the existing registers of underground cabling are unreliable, and often do not have lines listed.
Once the boring does begin, contractors are able to complete between 50 and 70 metres per day, equating to approximately five houses. On completion of this process, NBN is then required to re-concrete or re-seed any ground that has been disturbed within 10 days.
Ducting is then installed with fibre following the boring, with an FttC distribution point unit (DPU) placed into an existing pit located within a 150-metre copper length of each premises to be serviced. According to Ryan, most pits also have to be expanded to