NBN Planning Report_Cooran

2             BACKGROUND
2.1           NBN Co and the National Broadband Network
NBN Co is the organisation responsible for overseeing the upgrade of Australia’s existing
telecommunications network and for providing wholesale services to retail service providers. The
NBN is designed to provide Australians with access to fast, affordable and reliable internet and
landline phone services.

NBN Co plans to upgrade the existing telecommunications network in the most cost-efficient way
using best-fit technology and taking into consideration existing infrastructure.

The NBN’s fixed wireless network will use cellular technology to transmit signals to and from a
small antenna fixed on the outside of a home or business, which is pointed directly towards the
fixed wireless facility.

NBN Co’s fixed wireless network is designed to offer service providers with wholesale access
speeds of up to 25Mbps for downloads and 5Mbps for uploads. 1



2.2       What is Fixed Wireless and how is it different to Mobile
          Broadband?
The NBN’s fixed wireless network, which uses advanced technology commonly referred to as LTE
or 4G, is engineered to deliver services to a fixed number of premises within each coverage area.
This means that the bandwidth per household is designed to be more consistent than mobile
wireless, even in peak times of use.

Unlike a mobile wireless service where speeds can be affected by the number of people moving
into and out of the area, the speed available in a fixed wireless network is designed to remain
relatively steady.


2.3           The Fixed Wireless Network – Interdependencies
Although fixed wireless facilities are submitted to Council as standalone developments, from a
planning perspective, they are highly interdependent. Each fixed wireless facility is connected to
another to form a chain of facilities that link back to the fibre network. This is called the
‘transmission network’.

The transmission network requires line of sight from facility to facility until it reaches the fibre
network. The fixed wireless network will remain unconnected without the transmission network
and a break in this chain can have flow on effects to multiple communities.

A typical fixed wireless facility will include three antennas mounted above the surrounding area.
Each antenna is designed to cover a set area to maximise signal strength. These network antennas


1 NBN Co is  designing the NBN to provide these speeds to our wholesale customers, telephone and internet service providers. End user
experience including the speeds actually achieved over the NBN depends on some factors outside NBN Co’s control like equipment
quality, software, broadband plans and how the end user’s service provider designs its network.



NBN-4BBZ-4GYM-5132-Schreibers                                                                               Page 7