NBN trials first PoI-on-Wheels network disaster recovery unit

NBN Co is testing its first transportable point-of-interconnect (PoI), which can be deployed during emergency situations in the Victorian town of Traralgon.

The semitrailer has been since late October, to test its capacity to restore critical broadband connections during natural disasters.

NBN Co executive general manager, network management Darren Mills said “this is the first trial of this type we have done in Australia”, and forms part of its national emergency and disaster preparedness plans.

There are a total of 121 PoI’s serving 8.5 million customers, providing customer traffic concentration for retail service provider networks.

Mills said the trial is testing the equipment's performance, and whether it can operate at the rest of the NBN PoI sites.

“We have invested in assets that can be deployed relatively quickly to restore services while we complete network recovery,” Mills said.

The PoI-on-Wheels is expected to support anywhere between 192,000 to 500,000 customer services for as long as necessary.

NBN Co also urged communities to begin preparing and planning for residential evacuation and business continuity plans.

Mills said “the majority of outages on the NBN during emergencies are caused by power outages so it’s important people have a plan to stay connected and updated by other means should power outages happen and disrupt connectivity.”

Other emergency assets used during emergency situations include mobile satellite trucks and satellite ‘fly-away’ kits which can provide temporary access to voice and broadband services.