NBN Co doubles transit capacity in upgrade

NBN Co has announced a doubling of capacity on its 60,000km fibre network, after it delivered an update it expects will deliver broadband to more customers seeking more data.

The network provider reported its maximum transit capacity had increased from 9.6 terabits per second (Tbps) to 19.2Tbps per fibre link.

The first of the upgrades, which went live this week, will serve high-traffic fibre links between Eastern Creek and Asquith in Sydney. The 3600km network route between Brisbane and Darwin has also been upgraded and will go live in December. Transit capacity upgrades will then roll out in stages across the country.

The transit network is the “backbone” of the network of fibre optic cables that links hubs across Australian to the National Broadband Network. It moves large, aggregate volumes of data, supplying capacity to home and businesses. It connects to NBN’s 212 points of interconnection.

NBN Co said the upgrade was made possible through new optical transmission technology from equipment maker Coriant’s CloudWave Optics. Technology that supports per-wavelength transmission rates of 200 gigabits per second. The new technology has the capability to be upgraded to 400Gbps when needed.

“Our transit network is the backbone of the NBN multi-technology mix that aims to provide Australians with access to fast services,” said NBN Co chief network deployment officer Kathrine Dyer.

“This upgrade will ensure we can continue to deliver a reliable and high-quality broadband network for our wholesale customers even as high-bandwidth applications and the growth of internet usage continue to drive demand for network capacity.

“We have a clear product roadmap to continually upgrade this network with extra capacity as demand grows. With the upgrade to CloudWave Optics technology, we will be able to further increase total capacity on our Transit network. Coriant is helping us achieve these upgrades as we scale this build and move towards our goal of connecting eight million homes and businesses by 2020."