Buying a house, or building a new house for that matter, can be an exciting venture and at the same time, a pain in the right old bleeding if you haven’t prepared enough. This is not to mention the potential headache around broadband availability options? Did you ever stop to consider what type of broadband provisioning will be, or is, available to you in this respective area? There are also many broadband obstacles to be aware of when moving into a new greenfield estate, such as limited technology types, delays and worst case scenario, no broadband option at all (with the exception of slow satellite).

Sol Trujillo’s (ex Telstra CEO) last parting shot at Australia suggested that our country is a couple of years behind the broadband eight ball, especially when compared to other developed countries, and this is almost made evident with the upcoming new National Broadband Network, or should I say, the time it’s taken Australia to get this far. After all, we don’t want to implement a new technology that will be outdated by the time it’s fully operational, nor do we want to wait 6 or 7 years to be able to use it!

First of all we had a Liberal Federal Government that talked about updating broadband in Australia, but sat on their butt for a few years while bickering with Telstra and did nothing. Then we had a new Labor Government that proposed a Fibre to the Node NBN model ‘hooray’… which failed after, ‘they say’, was a lack of feasibility within all the proponent’s submissions. Then, there was the big announcement, a very bold vision that is meant to propel Australia to the top of the Broadband list, a National ‘Fibre to the Premises’ model which will take 8 years to build and have speed upwards of 100Mbps that will reach 90% of Australian homes.

How many years has it taken??? How much longer will we have to wait??? It appears that many of us will have to wait longer although for some of us, things may be taking shape, although it still could be quite some time away yet. Sure it’s frustrating not to know if your new residence is eligible to receive ADSL, ADSL2+, Cable or Wireless Broadband let alone Fibre, but all is lost though as the Australian Government has commenced a process to make the provisioning of fibre broadband technology ’mandatory’ to all new greenfield residential estate developments as from 1st July 2010.

This is great news for anyone thinking of building a home in these areas in the short term. At least your new home will be ‘future proofed’ for fibre. What’s more, it’s also been stated that fibre-to-the-home technology already exists in more than 120 greenfield estates which translates to approximately 150,000 homes. The problem is the lack of information for identifying these areas and who and where to go to find out more? I’d recommend contacting the respective council and estate developer to find out further information on broadband options and fibre provisioning and hope that the FTTP rollout will backhaul these estates first.

Fibre in greenfield estates
As part of its National Broadband Network initiative, the Government has announced that the use of fibre optic technology will be required in greenfield estates.

Given the superior properties of fibre optic networks, it would be counter‑productive to have homes built in new developments with the latest building technology but connected by antiquated copper wires. Greenfield estates across Australia will therefore be required to use fibre optic infrastructure to the home and workplace.

The Government has released a stakeholder consultation paper on the implementation of its fibre in greenfields initiative. Submissions are due by 5:00pm (AEST) Friday 12 June 2009.
‘Caption taken from dbcde.gov.au’

It’s been stated that work on the new national broadband network could commence shortly with $250 million to be allocated on a fibre optic backhaul by September.

The Australian Federal Government will start seeking Tenders shortly, who will then be required to submit proposals by June this year in order to start development in rural and regional areas come September where there is very little network competition. The somewhat hasty directive by the Government is also asking for feedback on who should build and own the network.

The document barely outlines the important factors surrounding the new NBN with many analysts stating that it leaves too many questions unanswered.

Anyone wishing to get the most out of broadband Internet access does not have to look any further than super fast high speed Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology. Connection speeds of 100Mbps are achievable with FTTP technology but it doesn’t stop there. On a commercial level, Fiber to the Premises is already transmitting speeds of up to 1Gbps (1000Mbps) in some countries.

The Australian Federal Government’s $43 billion National Broadband Fibre to the Premises Broadband Plans are to connect 90% of Australia’s population with lighting fast 100Mbps Broadband within 8 years. A very ambitious target considering it’s going to cost a whopping $43 billion, however, most industry experts agree that this latest FTTP announcement is a master stroke and if it becomes fruition, will push Australia up the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) rankings as a front runner in World Class fixed line and wireless Broadband Internet technology.

So what is FTTP?
In a nutshell, Fibre to the Premises is a communication delivery technology that uses fibre optic material opposed to the copper based infrastructure wiring witnessed in current ADSL2+ and landline phone services. FTTP differentiates from other similar fibre based communication methods such as Fibre to the Node (FTTN), Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC – that Telstra BigPond currently use), as it bypasses the ‘last mile’ copper wires that these methods require.

Why do Australians need FTTP?
Touted as the biggest Infrastructure project that Australia has ever seen, I can understand why many average Aussies may be concerned and or scratching their heads and asking why do we need a super fast broadband network such as this. After all, we’re talking about investing $43 billion now, and not $4.7 billion any more.

I suspect that many average Australians are ignorant of the potential future benefits, innovations and business opportunities that a high speed FTTP National Broadband Network will invite. It’s quite possible that many people are merely thinking that a new FTTP network will just provide faster broadband in order to deliver triple play services such as IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) bundled with Broadband and Home Phone services. Well I can tell you that’s only the beginning.

Firstly we could start with improvements in Home, Recreation and Business automation technology. Fast FTTP broadband will also assist Australia both nationally and on a global scale to acquire new business opportunities and become more competitive on the world platform. But then there’s Innovation!

Robust Broadband could provide the ability for consultations with Doctors, Accountants, Bank Managers etc… from home via Video type conferencing to their practice. People with medical conditions can be monitored more closely and on a frequent basis. It’s also been stated that Medical Specialists and Surgeons will eventually be able to perform delicate operations on patients while being on the opposite side of the globe!

This is only the beginning. These possibilities, like many new and emerging innovative services and business that fast Broadband will breed, could also create a run on effect for the environment (e.g Alleviate traffic congestion) which will also impact positively on our everyday lives (E.g. Less pollution).

FTTP is more than just improving your Broadband download speeds. Broadband is a revolution and the new upcoming Fibre to the Premises Broadband Network is a stepping stone to the next level.

Search and compare fast ADSL2+ and Cable Broadband Internet Plans right here at Broadband Guide.