An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan Supplementary Report Prepared for the Panel of Experts to assess National Broadband Network proposals and the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy 30th March 2008 An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan – Supplementary Report 2 An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan – Supplementary Report Table of Contents Background ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 4 1. Summary .................................................................................................................................. 5 2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 8 3. Common Issues Relating to Brownfield and Greenfield Deployments ............................. 9 3.1 National Network Basic Topology Standard ................................................................ 9 3.2 Central Co-ordination Office ...................................................................................... 10 4. Greenfield Deployments ....................................................................................................... 13 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 13 4.2 Residential Developer Requirements ........................................................................ 13 4.3 Background to Greenfield Costs ................................................................................ 14 4.4 Key Issues & Recommendations ............................................................................... 15 5. Brownfield Deployments ...................................................................................................... 21 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 21 5.2 Background ................................................................................................................ 21 5.3 Planning and Generic Issues & Recommendations .................................................. 23 5.4 Neighbourhood Distribution issues & Recommendations .......................................... 27 5.5 Premises Connection Issues & Recommendations ................................................... 29 6. Access Seeker Requirements ............................................................................................. 32 6.1 Introduction and Background ..................................................................................... 32 6.2 Executive Summary ................................................................................................... 33 6.3 Access Seeker Requirements .................................................................................... 34 6.4 Next Generation Network Frameworks ...................................................................... 34 6.5 Conflicts of Interest Resolution .................................................................................. 34 6.6 Price Setting ............................................................................................................... 35 6.7 Access Terms ............................................................................................................ 37 6.8 Aggregation ................................................................................................................ 37 6.9 End User Access ........................................................................................................ 38 6.10 Access versus Resale ................................................................................................ 38 6.11 Unbundled Services ................................................................................................... 39 6.12 Transition period CGN to NGN .................................................................................. 40 6.13 Commercial Framework ............................................................................................. 41 6.14 Operational Framework .............................................................................................. 46 6.15 Conclusions to Access Seekers Recommendations ................................................. 47 7. Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 48 Appendices Appendix A – Terms and Definitions .............................................................................................. 49 Appendix B – Deployment References ........................................................................................... 52 Case Study - TasCOLT (Tasmania) ........................................................................ 55 Case Study: Bright Telecommunications (Western Australia) ................................ 57 Appendix C – The Myth of FttN ...................................................................................................... 60 Appendix D – Australian FTTH Communities ................................................................................. 62 Appendix E – International FTTH Growth....................................................................................... 68 Appendix F – Supplementary Information on Access Seekers Topic ............................................ 71 Appendix G – Working Groups of FTTP Industry Special Interest Group ...................................... 76 Appendix H – Members of the FTTP Industry Special Interest Group ........................................... 77 3 An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan – Supplementary Report Background At the BuddeComm FTTP Roundtable in Sydney in October 2007, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, invited the industry to prepare a telecoms infrastructure vision paper as a term of reference for the Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN). Building upon the previous work of the Wholesale Industry Group, and referencing the Australian Labor Party’s 2007 document, ‘New Directions for Communications - A Broadband Future for Australia – Building a National Broadband Network’1, a ‘FTTP Special Interest Group’ (FTTP SIG) was established to formulate ideas and provide a common voice for the FTTP industry. A key output of this group was the development of a collaborative industry paper that put forward 17 key industry recommendations for the Government’s NBN. This paper was called ‘An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan’ and was presented to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy on March 6th 2008. At the March 6th meeting, in discussion with the Minister, the FTTP SIG agreed to establish 3 key working groups to provide additional input for consideration by the Minster’s Department and upcoming Panel of Experts that will assess proposals to build the National Broadband Network. On March 11th 2008, the Minister announced the Panel of Experts2. This paper provides a set of supplementary information on 3 key topics (Greenfield FTTP deployments, Brownfield FTTP deployments and Access Seeker requirements to the NBN ) that will be presented to the Minister’s Expert Panel. Acknowledgements Facilitated by Paul Budde, this paper has been prepared collaboratively by various volunteers who were present at the Industry Roundtable on March 6th, 2008. 1 Available at www.alp.org.au 2 See http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2008/016 4 An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan – Supplementary Report 1. Summary The Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) Special Interest Group (SIG) is very supportive of the Minister’s plan for a National Broadband Network (NBN). This paper provides supplementary recommendations to the report of March 6 entitled ‘An Industry Vision for the National Broadband Network Plan’ and provides recommendations for the consideration of the Government’s Panel of Experts that will assess proposals to build the National Broadband Network. The timing of the NBN initiative is critical to Australia’s future. • Australia’s current copper based telecommunications infrastructure is aging and is unable to keep up with the demands of broadband users. • Australia is beginning to fall behind in Brownfield high-speed broadband because of a lack of open access regulations. • At the time of writing this report there have already been 114 planned or implemented FTTP communities on Greenfield sites involving some 157,000 lots. • Over the next 6 years there is projected to be one million additional new homes built in Australia. • The need for a robust, high speed, scalable telecommunications infrastructure is seen as the foundation for many other government and industry led initiatives such as: o e-education; o e-health; o e-government; o affordable housing; o environmental monitoring; o access to social services; o public security and safety; o climate change; o communication; o smart utility grids; and o entertainment services. Whilst the demand and necessity for new telecommunications utility