LBN Co & NBN
During February/March 2018 The National Broadband Network (NBN) fast broadband service commenced in Burns Beach. This service is typically delivered in Burns Beach through Fibre To Node (FTN) technology, which is installed in areas where the traditional Telstra copper wire network (including telephone land line and ADSL broadband) is currently available. Note that the Telstra copper wire network will be decommissioned around August/September 2019.
It is important to note that a fast broadband service has already been available to residents in the PEET Burns Beach development area since the development commenced. This is because PEET contracted LBN Co to install telecommunications infrastructure, including optical fibre cabling.
Background Information
The "Original Burns Beach" area (approximately 100 houses in the south-west corner of Burns Beach) does not have the LBN Co optical fibre cabling installed. Broadband internet has generally been implemented through ADSL using the traditional Telstra copper wire network. It will be necessary for residents to migrate to NBN before decommissioning.
For residents in the early Phases of the PEET development area, there has been a choice available to use the Telstra copper wire network, or to use the LBN Co optical fibre cabling. For those residents the options available going forward will be to use either NBN or LBN Co.
For residents in recent Phases of the PEET development area, the traditional Telstra copper wire network has not been installed. As a consequence the initial roll-out of NBN in Burns Beach will not include these areas. Whilst NBN may become available in the areas in the future, the only choice currently available for high speed broadband will be through the LBN Co optical fibre network.
PEET has recently advised BBRA that future Phases of the PEET development area will have NBN infrastructure installed (i.e. Fibre To Node) and LBN Co optical fibre cabling infrastructure (i.e. Fibre To Premises) will not be installed.
In the PEET development area, "early" Phases have two (2) pits located in the footpaths or verge (one for LBN Co and one for Telstra/NBN):
"Recent" Phases have only one (1) pit (LBN Co):
LBN Co Infrastructure
PEET Burns Beach Development website includes detailed information regarding the LBN Co optical fibre network (e.g. how to connect to the network and retail service providers).
Link to PEET Burns Beach Development website
Note that fast broadband internet speeds (up to 100Mbps) are available using this Fibre To Premises (FTP) infrastructure.
NBN Infrastructure
NBN Co is a wholesaler providing infrastructure for use by retail service providers and their customers. The NBN infrastructure in Burns Beach uses Fibre To Node (FTN) technology. The Australia-wide average distance between node and premises is about 400m, and NBN considers that good results are achieved where the distance is up to 1km. The fibre optic cables run from the Burns Beach Telstra Exchange to the green NBN node cabinets. The node cabinets are generally installed near to pillars (grey dome-topped metal cylinders) that each contain connections to copper services for around 200 premises. BBRA has generated a map showing the NBN infrastructure in Burns Beach. This is a work in progress. This map should be useful for anyone trying to figure out how far they are from the nearest NBN node.
BBRA Unofficial Map of Burns Beach NBN Infrastructure
Residents can check that NBN is available by entering their address on NBN website (or the website of a retail service provider). However as of April 2018 there are some errors in this system (details of areas where the traditional Telstra copper wire network and corresponding pit access are not available are not accurate). The map below shows NBN availability in purple highlight (may not be 100% reliable).
If NBN is available residents can choose to migrate to NBN through a retail service provider. Packages are typically offered with maximum download speeds of 25Mbps, 50Mbps or 100Mbps. There is also typically a choice of monthly download data capacity.
Retail service providers purchase bandwidth from NBN. There are 14 points of interconnect in Western Australia. Note that the bandwidth is purchased from NBN for these points of interconnect (not suburb by suburb).
Note that any issues with the service should be taken up with the retail service provider (and not with NBN).
Residents that have devices linked to the existing Telstra copper wire network (e.g. alarm systems) should contact the device provider/manufacturer to check what should be done before this network is decommissioned.
