NBN speeds up broadband rollout with an additional 140 suburbs in NSW

Image from AFR

NBN rollouts across the country have been taking place, now with an additional 140 suburbs soon to be connected to the network by way of the FTTN technology.
The new Multi-Technology Mix National Broadband Network (NBN) will rely on a combination of FTTP (fibre-to-the-premises), FTTN (fibre-to-the-node), and NFC pay TV cable as opposed to running a fibre optic connection to 97 percent of households.
FTTN will provide broadband connection over fibre optic lines running from nodes around each suburb. The remaining distance from the node to each residence will be covered by existing copper phone lines. The latest rollout will soon connect around 200,000 premises from 140 suburbs in NSW and Queensland, where residents and business owners can expect to have faster broadband by next year (2015).
Once completed, 40 percent of residences in the country will have access to FTTN, 30 percent to HFC cable, and 23 percent to fibre. Meanwhile, remaining areas across regional and remote Australia will be connected via NBN satellite or NBN fixed wireless broadband.
The acceleration of the FTTN rollout comes after trials involving 50 houses in the town of Umina, NSW have been completed. The results of the trial included impressive 97Mbps download speeds, and 33Mbps upload speeds, a slight difference compared to FTTP speeds which are at 100Mbps/40Mbps. NBN Co is also running similar trials in the Melbourne suburb of Epping.
What affects FTTN speeds is the distance from the node and the condition of the copper phone line that makes up for the remaining metres, something that does not happen with the FTTP.
NBN Co is also conducting fibre-to-the-basement trials in apartment blocks, running a fibre link to the building, then making use of the structure’s existing copper lines to reach and connect each residence.