NBN Co says almost half a million Australian homes and businesses will have faster broadband as it expands its fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) footprint and resumes the rollout of its network using pay TV cables.
The company building the national broadband network on Tuesday said an additional 440,00 homes and businesses around the country will use its FTTC technology instead of the previously planned fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) connection.
The addition to its FTTC footprint will take the total number of such customers to almost 1.5 million by 2020.
NBN Co said the FTTC technology will use the existing copper lead-ins for connection, rather than long-copper lines and infill and extensions, which is more cost effective and time efficient.
The move means customers will now be able to access NBN's high speed tiers which would have previously been impossible on the FTTN connections.
NBN Co on Tuesday also announced it will begin a staged re-sale of wholesale hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC) services to retailers from April 27, with plans to initially release around 1,000 premises in Melbourne and Sydney.
From July, NBN expects the rollout to increase to about 100,000 premises per month.
The company said it has undertaken considerable work on the HFC network since outgoing chief executive Bill Morrow paused the rollout last year to improve service.
At the time, he said too many were not getting the service they deserved when they were connected to the HFC network, with slower than expected internet speeds.
Mr Morrow, who last week announced he will quit his role by the end of the year, on Tuesday said the company was pleased with the improvements seen from the additional work undertaken while sales have been paused on the HFC network.
"We expect to see an uplift in customer experience as a result of these improvements," Mr Morrow said.
