NBN Co to trial faster fixed wireless

NBN Co will next month begin a trial of faster speeds on its fixed wireless network in regional areas, offering retail service providers a new speed tier of up to 50Mbps down and 20Mbps up.

The trial represents a doubling of the highest wholesale speed tier - capped at 25Mbps - currently on offer for those selling services on the fixed wireless network.

The new pilot speeds will be available to all customers on the 25Mbps plan, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the CommsDay Summit in Sydney today.

A commercial launch of the service is planned for the fourth quarter of the year.

“The fixed wireless network already offers people living and working in the bush access to broadband speeds that those in cities take for granted," NBN Co chief architect Tony Cross said in a statement today.

“However the speed pilot is designed to allow rural and regional families and businesses to access speeds up to twice as fast as ADSL2+ users can experience in capital cities."

Around 200,000 premises are currently using services on the fixed wireless network, with 600,000 slated to receive the technology by the end of the national rollout.

NBN Co warned that the speeds promised as part of the pilot were wholesale peak speeds.