[LINK] NBN Demonstration in Canberra

[Tom Worthington]

The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co), have a "NBN Co 
Discovery Truck" touring Australia to promote broadband use: 
http://www.nbnco.com.au/news-and-events/demo-facilities.html?icid=pub:media::men:demo-fac

The truck is located behind Old Parliament House in Canberra today, so I 
went along this morning for a look (individuals can just turn up but 
groups should book). There is a standard 20 minute demonstration for a 
group of about a dozen. I was impressed how the demonstrators were able 
to explain a complex technology in simple terms.

The "truck" is a semitrailer, with a diesel generator built in (the 
generator could do with some more vibration isolation) and two 
telescopic sides, making a relatively spacious display room. Visitors 
enter via stairs at the rear (there is also a wheelchair lift) and exit 
at the front. One wall of the interior is wide-screen display made up of 
a 2 x 6 matrix of high resolution flat panel screens. The other wall has 
examples of the NBN equipment.

The interior is very plain white and shiny metal, with a rubber floor, 
clearly being designed for heavy use by many visitors. The space 
reminded me of a mock-up of the International Space Station which I saw 
at NASA.

The demonstrators showed the NBN website where details of the roll-out 
are provided. Canberra's northern satellite town of Gungahlin is being 
cabled first, which makes sense as this missed out on the Transact fibre 
optic system in other parts of the city: 
http://nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map.html?suburb=gungahlin&postcode=&state=act

There are three examples of the NBN hardware displayed: fibre, wireless 
and satellite. The fibre system has three boxes installed in the home: 
one on the outside wall where the fibre terminates, a power supply and a 
box inside the home which phones and computers are attached to. The 
power supply has a large lead acid backup battery in it (same size as 
used in UPS and security alarms) to keep the phones working during a 
blackout. There is provision for two phones and up to four separate data 
services.

The NBN equipment looks well engineered. One addition which I suggest 
householders in bushfire prone areas make is a metal cover for the fibre 
optic cable and box outside the house. The cable and box are plastic and 
would melt due to radiant heat in a bushfire, cutting off communications 
(the cable itself would survive as it is underground).

After the demonstration there was time for questions. Normally with such 
a demonstration for the public I wince about the oversimplification and 
inaccuracies which creep in. But the NBN demonstration staff did a very 
good job under extreme pressure. The audience in this case was not your 
usual members of the general public, including people from the 
Government's National Digital Economy Strategy and myself (I helped 
write the public Internet policy for Australia): 
http://www.nbn.gov.au/the-vision/digitaleconomystrategy/government

A video is shown during the presentation, which I was amused to find 
featured Tony Windsor MP's electorate office.

The truck will next be travelling to Coffs Harbour on 21 June 2012. I 
recommend a visit, when the truck visits you.

There is also a NBN Co Discovery Centre in the Innovation Building, 1010 
La Trobe St, Docklands, Melbourne (bookings required).

More at: http://blog.tomw.net.au/2012/06/nbn-demonstration-in-canberra.html


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/