Month: October 2016

NBN to rebate for higher speeds

Kenneth Tsang 5 Comments

Service providers may be eligible for a rebate to upgrade existing users to higher speed tiers

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, will introduce a three-month credit scheme designed to promote the uptake of higher speed tiers on its network.  The “Step Up AVC Credit” will see service providers refunded up to $33 over 3 months for upgrading existing customers to a higher speed tier.

End users must stay on the new tier for a minimum of 90 days to be eligible for the credit.

Rebates range from $9 to $33 over 3 months:

  • 12/1 Mbps to 25/5 Mbps: $9 over 3 months
  • 12/1 Mbps to 50/20 Mbps: $21 over 3 months
  • 12/1 Mbps to 100/40 Mbps: $33 over 3 months
  • 25/5 Mbps to 50/20 Mbps: $21 over 3 months
  • 25/5 Mbps to 100/40 Mbps: $33 over 3 months
  • 50/20 Mbps to 100/40 Mbps: $21 over 3 months

In an effort to reduce congestion and lower CVC congestion, the credit has strict guidelines about the state of congestion within the network.  Any connectivity virtual circuit connected to end users applying for the “Step Up AVC Credit” cannot exceed an average of 95% of network utilisation for 4 consecutive 15 minute intervals in any 24 hour period.

During this campaign, nbn will also co-fund marketing activities associated with the “Step Up AVC Credit” at $1.50 for each eligible AVC.

The scheme will start in November 2016 and finish at the end of March 2017.

[Source: NBN Co]

NBN Fibre to the Node Trial at Umina Beach

NBN to remediate business connections over copper

Kenneth Tsang 3 Comments

But will lock you in for 12 months if the existing copper line isn’t up to scratch

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, will begin offering line remediation to business services unable to reach their committed speeds over the copper network.

Business level services delivered over Traffic Class 2 (TC-2) have a committed information rate (CIR) which effectively guarantees a connection’s transfer rate.  Typical residential services are provisioned over Traffic Class 4, which has a peak information rate (PIR) describing the “up to” transfer rate achievable over the line.

The company is already offering TC-2 services over its FTTN and FTTB network with symmetrical transfer speeds of 5, 10 or 20 Mbps.  However, according to the current Wholesale Broadband Agreement (WBA), the company is currently not committing to its Committed Information Rate — stating:

“the actual Information Rate experienced by Customer, Downstream Customer or the relevant End User, may each be significantly less than the downstream CIR and upstream CIR of the bandwidth profile ordered by Customer in respect of the relevant Ordered Product”

According to the revised WBA on its website, the company will enable customers to submit a trouble ticket to remediate the copper line.  However, nbn will also require the end user to take up the service for at least 12 months or will have to pay an early disconnection or modification fee.

NBN will charge an early termination or modification fee if customers had their line remediated
NBN will charge an early termination or modification fee if customers had their business line remediated

Increased FTTN performance objectives

nbn is also increasing its network availability operational target on the FTTN Network from 99.70% to 99.80%.  The agreement states that “operational targets are non-binding and aspirational”.

The new wholesale broadband agreement will become effective in early December 2016.

 

Optimising your HSC study with the Question Matrix

Kenneth Tsang Leave a comment

It’s crunch time.  With just over a week left until English Paper 1 kicks off, it’s more important than ever to optimise your study pattern.

If you ever find yourself short on time studying and want to re-enforce the fundamentals, HSCninja can help you prioritise your study.  The Question Matrix can give you an “at a glance” view of the number of marks allocated to each HSC syllabus topic in the past few years.  From this, you can prioritise your study based on what the Board of Studies has examined in the past.

Example: HSC Physics – Motors and Generators

In this example, we’ll look at HSC Physics Motors and Generators.  Similar matrices are also available for all topics in Mathematics, Physics and Biology.

Question Matrix on HSCninja for the Motors and Generators module in HSC Physics
Question Matrix on HSCninja for the Motors and Generators module in HSC Physics

 

Based on this matrix, we can see that the Board has placed heavy emphasis on the first topic: 9.3.1 – Motors and magnetic forces. An average of 9.9 marks has allocated to this syllabus topic for the past 7 years.  The least emphasis is placed on 9.3.5 – AC motors with an average on 3.3 marks over the past 7 years.

However, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t study for AC motors!  You can see that the Board is still very likely to examine you on the topic, it just affects fewer marks.  So it’s all just a balancing act.

A good strategy may be to place a suitable amount of time revising teach topic based on how many marks each topic has historically been worth.  But at the end of the day, the more familiar you are with material across all topics — the more likely you are to get higher marks.