ntd

nbn to pay RSPs for HFC NTD installation

Kenneth Tsang Leave a comment

$26 rebate up for grabs for service providers who mail their own NTDs or perform their own professional installations

nbn, the company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, is incentivising retail service providers (RSPs) to provide their own HFC NTD installation or delivery mechanisms.

Last week, nbn released its updated Wholesale Broadband Agreement for July, which includes a new $150 installation fee for the HFC NTD.

Documents published by the network builder today reveal that service providers can participate in business readiness testing (BRT) for more HFC Installation Options. These include HFC NTD delivery or installation by service provider.

A rebate of $26 (excluding GST) will be provided by nbn to participating service providers when they attempt to deliver a self-installation HFC NTD kit to end users or a professional installation is performed.

In addition to the rebate, the professional installation fee will be waived by nbn since the service provider is providing the installation at their own cost.

nbn says this rebate is to help “contribute to [service provider’s] costs associated with […] managing a Customer Professional Installation – HFC or Customer Dispatch NBN Co Self-Install Kit – HFC for the duration of the HFC Installation Options BRT”.

The rebate will be paid for successful activations or when an activation attempt was made and the provider’s overall activation failure rate is less than or equal to 1.5%.

nbn has not specified an end date to this testing agreement.

[Source: nbn]

nbn to charge for HFC NTD install from July

Kenneth Tsang 1 Comment

Customers with existing Telstra or Foxtel cable service given self-install option by default

nbn, the company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, will start charging an HFC NTD installation fee from July this year.

This comes as nbn finalises its self-install model which sees end users being mailed their own Network Termination Device in premises with an existing cable installation.

According to its updated WBA price list, nbn will give end users an option of a free self-install kit or a professional install charged at $75 per hour for a minimum of 2 hour (minimum charge $150) excluding GST.

The self-install kit will include a splitter, coaxial cable and the Arris modem acting as the NBN Network Termination Device.

Customers who do not have existing coaxial cabling connecting to the cable network will still be provided with a free initial standard installation.

Missing HFC modems

Unlike NTDs found on nbn’s Fibre or Fixed Wireless networks, the HFC NTD modem is not a wall-mounted installation making it easy for end users to mistakenly remove the devices when moving homes or businesses.

nbn have established that when an HFC Network Termination Device is missing, the new end user will have to request a professional install charged at the same $75 per hour rate for a minimum of 2 hours.

Additional data connections over HFC

Unlike other access technologies on the National Broadband Network with an NTD, the HFC modem only has one active port.

In order to order a second data service, end users will need to order a second Network Termination Device either through a self-install kit or a professional install.

End users with 3 or more existing RF signal terminating devices (such as a cable TV box) will be required to pay a subsequent installation fee charged at $270, plus a labour rate of $75 per hour and any additional material costs.

[Source: nbn]

nbn launches Cell Site Access Service

Kenneth Tsang Leave a comment

Company does away with CVC, but will charge two pricing levels based on metro or regional classification

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, has released an interim agreement for its Cell Site Access Service (CSAS).  As previously reported, this product is designed for mobile service providers to connect its cell towers through the National Broadband Network fibre network.

The agreement includes a price list, indicating nbn’s intention to provide cell towers with blended traffic class product including a traffic class 1 and traffic class 2 access virtual circuit (TC-1/TC-2 AVC).  All access products include a 5 Mbps TC-1 AVC, with varying amounts of TC-2 bandwidth from 50 Mbps to 900 Mbps.

Unlike the residential/business focused product offered by nbn (NEBS), the CSAS price list and product specification bares no mention of the contentious connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) — the charge imposed by nbn to allow traffic to be carried over from the NBN to the provider’s network.

For the first time, nbn has offered differential pricing based on the classification of the point of interconnect.  Access components in metro and outer metro areas will be charged at a lower rate compared with regional areas.

For example, the base product which includes 5 Mbps TC-1 and 50 Mbps TC-2 comes in at $910 in metro and outer-metro areas.  However, the access charge will increase to $1,245 for cell towers connected to regional points of interconnect.

NBN Cell Site Access Service - AVC Pricing Table
NBN Cell Site Access Service – AVC Pricing Table, Source: nbn co ltd

CSAS Network Termination Device

nbn will be providing a specialised network termination device (NTD) for customers of the Cell Site Access Service.  Unlike the standard NTD available for residential connections, the CSAS NTD will only have one User Network Interface (UNI) which is accessible through a copper or optical port.

The customer is expected to produce 3 RU of rack space for the installation of the NBN fibre tray, power supply and NTD.

NBN CSAS NTD Layout, Source: nbn co ltd
NBN CSAS NTD Layout, Source: nbn co ltd

 

You can find the CSAS pricing list and product descriptions on the nbn website.

Updated 23rd September 2016: to include that CVC appears is not mentioned.