NBN Co has started installing ADTRAN’s gigabit-capable G.fast Distribution Point Units (DPUs) for Australia’s national broadband access network (nbn).
ADTRAN said it has shipped the most advanced generation of G.fast ports for this project. G.fast uses existing wired infrastructure to bring higher broadband speeds to customers by linking large capacity fibre networks to homes and businesses.

NBN engineers are going to install the first G.fast DPUs in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale, where the newest phase of the wholesale nbn is being built out by 2020.

This is the first network in the world to deliver high speeds of broadband via in-ground G.fast DPUs, said NBN Chief Network Engineering Officer Peter Ryan.

ADTRAN delivers G.fast solutions that conform with Amendment 3 of the ITU-T G.fast standard, which doubles the usable spectrum from 106 MHz to 212 MHz and reduces the power consumption to enable cost effective reverse power feeding.

G.fast is now capable of providing an aggregated bandwidth of 2 Gbps, delivering fibre-like speeds for applications which require leveraging the existing phone or cable television wiring infrastructure.

The increased capacity helps operators with additional deployment flexibility. Operators aim to deliver G.fast-based services to locations where these need to coexist with existing VDSL2 services while still maintaining the ability to deliver symmetric Gigabit speeds.

“NBN is setting a global standard for advanced Gigabit Society infrastructure by designing and implementing a broadband network using multiple next-generation technologies, including G.fast, to scale to gigabit service rates and beyond,” ADTRAN EMEA/APAC Chief Technology Officer Ronan Kelly said.