TPG licences hint at LTE fixed wireless trial in Bendigo

New 3.6GHz “point to multipoint” licence at existing Vodafone tower suggests trial LTE deployment

Australia’s second largest telco, TPG, was granted a number of apparatus radio licence covering parts of the Bendigo area in Victoria.

These new licences, issued on 21 March 2017 by the ACMA, are in addition to the spectrum licences owned by TPG to operate in the 1800 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands.

Whilst apparatus licence are typically issued for one year, the TPG licences are only valid until late October this year — hinting at a short-term trial.

(more…)

NBN Fixed Wireless Antenna (close up)

NBN expands 3.4GHz Fixed Wireless trial

15 existing towers in NSW, VIC and SA retrofitted with new radios

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, appears to have expanded its trial of the 3.4GHz band to deliver fixed wireless to outer metropolitan fringes.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has updated its Register of Radiocommunications Licenses.  It has replaced the Scientifically Assigned licenses, first assigned at the start 2015, with fixed site licenses on existing towers.  The towers now listed in the register include:

The current rollout, which currently relies on TD-LTE technology delivered over the 2.3 GHz band, has mainly been limited to regional areas where nbn holds the licence for the frequency.  Mobile provider Optus owns the licenses spectrum in areas closer to capital cities.

The ACMA was ordered by then-Minister for Communications, Malcolm Turnbull, to allocate the 3.4 GHz spectrum to nbn to enable the company to complete its fixed wireless rollout.  The so-called 3.4 GHz band encompasses the 3425-3492.5 MHz and 3542.5-3757 MHz spectrum allocations.

In March 2015, the nbn company had engaged NetComm Wireless to develop fixed wireless equipment for the new band.

NBN Fixed Wireless Antenna (close up)

Unlicensed: nbn forgets to renew its radio assignments for over half a year

Assignments at almost a thousand fixed wireless sites have disappeared after 2.3 GHz licence renewal in July last year.

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, has apparently failed to renew its radio assignments for the majority of existing fixed wireless towers.

Despite having around 1,200 fixed wireless towers active around Australia, the company’s radio assignment records contains only around 200 radio sites with the 2.3 GHz radio frequency assigned.

nbn uses the 2.3 GHz radio frequency to service areas in outer metropolitan fringes using TD-LTE 4G technology. However, since its licence renewal in July last year, the radio assignments in the majority of its existing fixed wireless towers have disappeared from the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA’s) Register of Radiocommunications Licences.

Contacting ACMA about this issue, the authority revealed that “it appears [nbn’s] devices on this site have not been renewed” after July and that they were “checking with NBN to find out what has happened”.

More to come.

NBN sets December launch date for up to 50/20Mbps speeds

Product construct similar to NBN’s copper network

The company responsible for building the National Broadband Network, nbn, has released an updated Wholesale Broadband Agreement (WBA) to service providers which includes the new up to 50/20 Mbps speed range.

Originally, the company had limited the speed achievable on the NBN Fixed Wireless network to be 25/5 Mbps. However, according to the Product Technical Specification document, the equipment (W-NTD) installed in homes are capable of speeds of up to 75 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream depending on the equipment version.

nbn will begin to offer the 25-50/5-20 Mbps speed tier for the commonly used Traffic Class 4 Access Virtual Circuit, starting 1st December 2015. The company will also offer a 0.3 Mbps Traffic Class 1 Access Virtual Circuit — up from 0.15 Mbps, intended for low-latency services such as VoIP lines.

However, unlike the other Fixed-line technologies such as Fibre, FTTN and HFC — the NBN Fixed Wireless network will not offer an up-to 25/10 Mbps speed tier.

The company has been trialing the product since mid-May this year.

NBN Fixed Wireless Antenna (close up)

Update: nbn™ 3.5GHz LTE test sites

As reported earlier on jxeeno blog, nbn™ has begun testing the use of the 3.5GHz spectrum for Fixed Wireless in outer metropolitan areas.

The ACMA has updated the list of NBN Fixed Wireless towers where 3.5GHz transmitter and receivers have been installed:

Tower Location State ACMA site ID
51 Jupp St PROSERPINE Queensland 9017726
10 Morang Crescent MITCHELL PARK Victoria 9015336

Earlier, ZDNet reported that the antenna design for the 3.5GHz network will be similar to a “baseball mit”:

“that the antennas installed on top of the premises as part of the trial were designed similar to a “baseball mitt” in that although the 3.5GHz beam is relatively narrow, the capture of it on the antenna was wide to ensure that line to sight between the NBN Co tower and the premises’ antenna was maintained.”

However, the Department of Defense had raised concerns that utilising the 3.5GHz spectrum may interfere with radar capabilities.

While the actual assigned spectrum is 3.56GHz, the assignments were issued under nbn™’s existing 3.4GHz license which it acquired from the now defunct Austar satellite TV company. A full list of ACMA assignments can be found here.

NBN Fixed Wireless Antenna (close up)

NBN Co tests 3.5GHz fixed wireless in outer metro areas

NBN Co has commenced testing the 3.5GHz spectrum slated for use in NBN Co’s fixed wireless network in outer metro areas. NBN Co’s current Fixed Wireless network uses the 2.3GHz spectrum in regional areas after acquiring the spectrum from former satellite TV provider Austar. However, it lacked the 2.3GHz spectrum license in metro areas.

In August 2014, Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull directed the ACMA to issue licenses for NBN Co in the 3.5GHz spectrum to cover a spectrum shortage NBN Co faced in outer metro areas.

According to the ACMA license database, there were 41 “Scientific Assigned” licenses issued in the 3.5GHz spectrum range in December 2014. These licenses were assigned onto NBN Co “Test Trailer” that are located in the outer suburbs of Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne, where the test equipment resides:

Test Trailer Code Location
Bris 1 within 8 km of Bribie Island Road near Regina Avenue NINGI
Bris 8 within 8 km of Warrill View-Peak Crossing Rd HARRISVILLE
Bris 12 within 6 km of Brookfield Showground BROOKFIELD
Bris 11 within 8 km of Narangba Road near Alama Road KURWONGBAH
Bris 2 within 8 km of Hausmann Lane UPPER CABOOLTURE
Bris 4 within 8 km of Williams Street DAYBORO
Syd 10 within 10 km of 80-82 Market Street APPIN
Syd 8 within 10 km of Cnr Wollombi Road / Shingle Gully Road MILLFIELD
Bris 3 within 8 km of Camp Mountain Road SAMFORD VILLAGE
Bris 7 within 8 km of 1524-1530 Waterford-Tamborine Road LOGAN VILLAGE
Bris 5 within 8 km of Reservoir, D’Aguilar, McLeod Lane BRACALBA
Bris 6 within 8 km of 5460555 Middle Road GREENBANK
Bris 10 within 15 km of Near Reservoir, Knox Lane FERNVALE
Syd 1 withn 20 km of Reservoir off Tanilba Bay Road LEMON TREE PASSAGE
Syd 14 within 6 km of Cnr George Downes Drive / Greta Road KULNURA
Syd 13 within 10 km of 240 Mowbray Park Road LAKESLAND
Syd 12 within 5 km of Warragamba Sportsground WARRAGAMBA
Syd 4 within 20 km of Sandy Creek Road near Whitings Lane QUORROBOLONG
Bris 9 within 15 km of Lot 4, Wensley Road SOUTH RIPLEY
Syd 6 within 5 km of Old Northern Road near Wisemans Ferry Road MAROOTA
Syd 2 within 10 km of Off Italia Road near Lone Pine Road EAST SEAHAM
Syd 7 within 12 km of 139 Racecourse Road CLARENDON
Syd 5 within 12 km of Wyee Road near Ruttley Road WYEE
Syd 9 within 10 km of 5 Lupton Road BARGO
Syd 3 within 10 km of 2171 Pacific Highway HEATHERBRAE
Syd 11 within 10 km of 135 Burragorang Road MOUNT HUNTER
CWMEL_P2_5 within 15 km of Comms Site, Alcorns Road CRESWICK
CW_SYD_P2_1 within 15 km of 1C Hoddle Street BURRAWANG
CW_SA_P2_1 within 15 km of Lot 133 Carter Road RIVERGLEN
CW_SYD_P2_3 within 15 km of Lot 102 Great Western Highway LITTLE HARTLEY

The test licenses will expire in June 2015. It is expected that around 80,000 premises will be serviceable by NBN Co’s 3.5GHz fixed wireless network once it’s completed.