When the National Broadband Network (also known as the nbn™) was proposed in Australia, it was labelled a gamechanger, promising very high-speed internet. However, almost a decade later, there are more dissatisfied customers than satisfied ones, and Australia remains very, very low down the “best” and “fastest” internet connectivity rankings worldwide. With a variety of planning, strategy and implementation challenges, it’s no surprise that the National Broadband Network has been a huge disruption in the Australian Telecommunications Market.

Some of these challenges that enterprises have found in dealing with the National Broadband Network have included:

Unrealistic planning involving budgeting and timeframes

Successful network deployment planning needs to be pro-actively done, ideally before the work begins. A fundamental part of this is accurate data of nearby populations, housing densities and civil infrastructure. When rolling it out in Australia, this data was quickly ageing, and therefore a challenge to successful implementation. What this has meant in turn is that the resulting infrastructure hasn’t necessarily been the game-changer that many organisations were promised, particularly in regional areas.

A shortage of skilled workers

Traditional engineers likely require upskilling so they will be able to install the nbn™, and as such there may be a shortage of skilled workers during each phase of the roll-out. We have seen this with each stage of the nbn™ to date, and it will likely continue now as the company that manages the nbn™, NBN Co, undertakes planned upgrades across the network. This delays the competition date and may cause disruptions in the telecommunications market as different areas will be on the National Broadband Network, whilst others will be on ADSL.

Property access

Without adequate access and right of way, as has occurred at points through the roll-out, the roll-out of the infrastructure will be delayed. With many Australians refusing to allow access to their private properties, there has been some heavy disruption to the roll-out while land rights had to be legally negotiated.

Let us help you

With all of that said, the nbn™ is a reality, and despite of the above challenges above, it has become a piece of nation-building infrastructure that all Australian businesses have access to at some level.

With “coverage” no longer being the domain of a few, it is now available to all, which enables solutions, technologies, and services to be the basis for supplier selection. The major infrastructure owners are also embracing the nbn™ where it makes logical sense, as the benefits from a bandwidth, coverage and price perspective are significant.

Making the most of the National Broadband Network does require that an enterprise navigate a fast available solution set and range of products, to determine which will deliver the best value back to the organisation. Many enterprises, of all sizes and scales, are turning to third party specialists to help them determine the right product that will facilitate their operation and ongoing growth.

EUC can provide an overview of how the National Broadband Network can impact on your network from a technical and commercial perspective, and help you better develop your business goals to benefit from NBN and reduce the potential disruptions it will have on your business.