THE NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK (NBN) & INTERNET BANDWIDTH
One would estimate that having greater data and communication capabilities within Australia shores should encourage local television networks to offer a greater variety of video on-demand services. The NBN and the Australian Government has promised to roll out fibre to the home (FTTH), similar to countries like South Korea, Sweden and Japan. With the NBN, we are inheriting a communications network which will provide speeds of up to 1 gigabit/second [or 1000megabits/second] (NBN Website).
Considering the speeds of our fastest ADSL2+ connections today (theoretically, a measly 24 megabits/second - but in the real world it's more in the range of 12-18 megabits/second - depending on your proximity to your local phone exchange), the NBN promises speeds almost 50 times faster than our theoretical maximum on our ADSL2+ copper networks. With an internet connection speed of 1 gigabit/second, this equates to just about 100 times quicker than our average internet connection speed in Australia (10.5 megabits/second). This move alone will put us on par with countries like Japan and Singapore - and will make Australia one of the world leaders in regards to our own internal communication networks. Already the NBN has been rolled out to almost 40 communities across Australia. Its first three-year rollout plan, will reach up to 3.5 million homes, schools, businesses and hospitals, Australia wide - and upon completion will cover 93% of Australian premises. Of those that will miss out on the NBN due to their remote location (7% of Australia), they will have access to next-generation fixed wireless and satellite technologies, providing peak speeds of 12 megabits per second (NBN Website). |
The entire NBN project, Australia wide, will take up to 10 years to complete - however it very much might be worth the wait, with the NBN set to “significantly reduce download times for content with high bandwidth requirements such as television programs, documentaries and movies” (NBN Website) - a very exciting time indeed for us online television consumers!
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