The NBN: a new world of entertainment for Australians

The humble TV is going through a significant change in Australia and round the world. It's no longer a simple box connected to a rooftop aerial - it's becoming a gateway to content from all over the world available via the internet.

Australians are among the most enthusiastic adopters of technology, and have taken up smart TVs, tablets, set-top boxes and game consoles quickly, turning us into a nation of connected entertainment consumers, with many people used to watching TV while also using their tablet or smartphone.

The next step in the evolution of Australia's entertainment options is Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) -- broadcast TV content streamed live over the internet.

Instead of your TV signals coming through an aerial or satellite dish, IPTV allows compatible equipment to use the internet to access movies, TV shows and live events over home broadband.

Today's home internet connections don't always allow smooth playback -- movies can take a long time to start playing and live channels may pause unexpectedly.

NBN Co's aim to connect 93 per cent of Australian premises to fibre across the country means there will be vastly more bandwidth available for service providers to provide end users the ability to access high-quality video at more and more locations. As a result, Australia is becoming fertile ground for IPTV services, and they're expected to grow significantly here.

The NBN has technology baked in to every part of the network to facilitate the delivery of live video content in high definition. The technology, called "Multicast", allows content to be streamed into the NBN just once per serving area, and then replicated out to potentially thousands of people watching it at once.

Top 5 benefits of Multicast over the NBN:

Two screens are better than one: In addition to full high-definition video streams over the NBN, service providers can offer synchronised 'second screen' options (such as tablets and smartphones). Imagine watching an uninterrupted HD sports broadcast with scores, statistics and player information updating live on your tablet computer in front of you.

Choice of channels and locations - With NBN fibre and the right service subscriptions, you'll be able to watch premium live HD channels from various providers throughout your home on any compatible device connected to the home network.

Quality - Multicast has dedicated, reserved bandwidth over the NBN, giving Australian service providers the potential to offer high quality, reliable IPTV services to help meet viewers' high expectations.

Interactivity - IPTV all comes over the internet, which is inherently a two-way connection, so viewers will likely be able to interact with, or even participate in, their favourite shows and pull down exclusive additional content, where available.

Ready for tomorrow - The Multicast feature is expected to be able to adapt and support the TV resolutions of the future, including support for Quad HD (four times the current full-HD resolution) and Ultra HD TV (16 times higher!) which is expected to be released by the end of the decade.