The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, has released a new supply agreement which enables TV services to be delivered over the NBN fibre network in selected new developments.
As reported on jxeeno blog in October, the company began consulting the industry for the potential of such a service. The agreement released today is intended for content providers who will overlay its own radio signals over the existing NBN fibre network.
The introduction of this service is seen as a competitive response to the government’s Telecommunications in New Developments (TIND) policy which encourages greater infrastructure competition in new developments. Other fibre providers have long provided a similar TV service over fibre including the TransACT network which nbn acquired in 2013.
The product, provided for free to willing service providers, will allow TV radio signals to be delivered over the fibre network using a technology known as Radio Frequency on Glass (RFoG). Providers must at least provide a TV channels ordinarily available on free-to-air in that area, and may additionally provide its own content or contents from other providers.
New developments with Fibre TV enabled will have a separate RF converter which transforms the signals delivered over fibre to TV signals.