Ovum: nbn leads regional broadband investment
May 17, 2017
nbn’s Fixed Wireless network has passed a key milestone with the service now available to 500,000 premises in regional and rural Australia. The milestone coincides with new research from UK analyst firm Ovum which reveals that nbn is investing twice as much on regional broadband than our nearest international rival.
The nbn Fixed Wireless service was launched in 2011 and will provide access to nbn services to more than 600,000 regional and rural premises by 2020, with the network already delivering active services to more than 175,000 end-users across the country.
In its new nbn commissioned research report Ovum notes that nbn’s investment of nearly $7,000 per household on regional and rural broadband in Australia easily outstrips any other global market with the US its nearest rival investing around $3,200 per premise on its Connect America Fund aimed at rural areas.
The report notes that other major international markets including the UK, Canada, France and Ireland are all spending less than A$1,000 per household on regional broadband rollout.
“With a minimum available wholesale speed of 25Mbps for all end-users, irrespective of their location or technology platform, Australia has set the bar far higher than seen in equivalent markets such as the United States, the UK, Canada or France,” the Ovum report notes. “Australia is notable as one of the few, non-city state, markets where government broadband objectives extend to 100 per cent of the population. Of the other markets surveyed in our report, all have more limited ambitions for serving the last five most remote per cent of the population than Australia.”
Bill Morrow, CEO of nbn, commented: “One of the key reasons people want to work for nbn is the genuine ability to make a difference. The nbn Fixed Wireless network is providing fast, reliable connectivity to parts of regional Australia that otherwise would not have access. Our Fixed Wireless network has already been recognised as a world leader and we are determined to maintain that position by continuing to deliver even better products on the network. “The nbn Fixed Wireless network plays a key role in ensuring there is no digital divide between urban and regional Australia and, as the Ovum report notes, is the envy of other countries around the world.”