NBN Co was created to design, build and operate the infrastructure that will enable advanced digital services to be provided to the nation.

The project is a unique nation-building program that has the potential to lift Australia’s productive capacity. NBN Co will be Australia’s first national wholesale-only, open access, high speed broadband platform.

NBN Co Limited is rolling out the high-speed broadband fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) network to five “first release” sites on mainland Australia as part of live trials of its network design and construction methods.

About the five sites

The sites were selected by NBN Co network planners and engineers because they represent the diverse situations they will encounter during the network rollout. The sites provide an opportunity to test and document different design and construction techniques in a range of situations. The sites offer significant variety in terms of geography, housing type and density, local infrastructure and other local factors.

The sites include a suburban area where NBN Co needs to connect semi-detached houses, detached houses and apartment blocks. Also selected is a smaller rural town with more dispersed housing, and three other sites representing a mix of major regional, smaller regional and differing climate and geography.

Approximately 3000 premises will be in each area selected, except the rural town where there are fewer dwellings.

The selected sites

The sites are:

• A part of the suburb of Brunswick in Melbourne
• An area of Towsnville covering parts of the suburbs of Aitkenvale and Mundingburra
• The coastal communities of Minnamurra and Kiama Downs south of Wollongong
• An area of west Armidale, NSW, including the University of New England
• The rural town of Willunga in South Australia

See more information including a map by clicking the area name above.

Project phases

The detailed design phase will take several months to complete.

Following the design phase, actual construction work on the first release rollout is expected to start early in the second half of the year and be complete by early 2011.

NBN Co will then be working with retail service providers to give them access to the network and, via the network, to end-users so they can test their retail services.

NBN Co will consult with the community about its plans during the design phase.

A copy of the press release is available here.