NBN Co looks to multi-gigabit speeds for its fibre network

NBN Co will next year start preparing its residential fibre network to support speeds beyond 1Gbps by deploying optical network equipment by Nokia.

The company said late Friday that it would deploy “MF-14 optical line terminals and the Altiplano access controller” on the NBN, starting in 2023.

This, it said, would create options “to support higher capacity broadband technologies, such as XGS PON, 25GS PON, 50G PON and beyond.”

“NBN Co will be one of the first in the world – and the first operator in the southern hemisphere – to deploy the Nokia MF-14,” the operator said in a statement.

“It will allow NBN Co to move from the wholesale residential gigabit speeds offered today to multi-gigabit residential speeds across the fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network and help address Australia’s broadband needs well into the future.”

NBN Co added that it “has been investigating the evolution of the fibre network for some time”, largely through lab testing.

NBN Co is also sourcing next-generation customer premises equipment (CPE) from Nokia in support of an upgrade to its fixed wireless network.