NBN Co is set to start consulting with industry this month on an extension of its top speed tiers, up to one gigabit, as part of its fibre-to-the-curb (FttC) network.
The company has upgraded its remit for a consultation of home superfast and home ultrafast tiers for FttC via G.fast, ni March and April.
The introduction timeframe is said to be on track, but it needs distribution point units in streets to be capable of G.fast, an evolution of DSL standards that allows for theoretical speeds that extend beyond 100Mbps.
Late last year, CEO Stephan Rue said that around one-third of DPUs are already G.fast-capable – but it is anyone’s guess just how much of the FttC network will be upgraded with these DPUs.
It is understood that the forthcoming consultation paper will propose speed tier constructs that are the same as for hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC). That would mean ‘home superfast’ would offer 250/25 Mbps, while ‘home ultrafast’ would cover 500 to close to 1000/50 Mbps, though usually configured to be at least 750 Mbps.
