Half way round the world or Sydney to Perth? That’s some of the lengths of copper the NBN Co. has bought to help roll out faster broadband.
According to the latest reports the NBN bought 4,478 kilometres of copper since just last October. Taking the total red metal purchased to around 21,000 kms all up.
Confused? You’re probably not alone given how much fibre was talked up when the initial broadband network launched. And during its many cable twists and turns since.
The reality is the NBN’s latest ‘multi technology’ configuration was always going to be copper heavy. The new focus on fibre to the node or curb and not the side wall sort of guaranteed it.
Not everyone’s happy of course. There’s been lots of cries of ‘old technology’ being thrown around since the new copper figures came out. Not least by the Labour Party who’s new NBN ‘model’ is yet to be revealed.
The reality is that copper has been getting all sorts of next generation tech tweaks like G.fast or VDSL in the last decade to make it a great fibre partner.
In fact fixed broadband using copper wiring and cabling is by far the world’s most popular technology for delivering the Internet according to The Broadband Forum Group’s latest snapshot.
Like most things in life it all comes down to money. Helping fibre go the extra mile by piggybacking on faster copper cables is just a hell of a lot cheaper.
That’s certainly the line being taken by Mr Turnbull’s Government. And lets face it, it does make sense if we can still deliver much faster broadband.
No one is saying copper will ever be better than fibre. But the reality on the ground is they work well together when designed and installed properly.
If we want a smart country I only hope our politicians can do the same.