Is NBN’s fibre to the node really more popular than fibre to the premises?

The rollout, adoption, and even use of NBN services is a contentious issue amongst many across Australia, and a topic that keeps making its way into headlines, with the latest claims; NBN “fibre to the node is more popular than fibre to the premises.”

This claim, made by Gizmodo Australia, is on the back of an in depth analysis conducted by ITNews, details of which are available here. This report gives an interesting insight into the deployment and adoption of NBN services in different regions, and the activation rates in each.

But does this actually mean fibre to the node (FttN) is more popular than fibre to the premises (FttP)? On face value this could be the takeaway, however the claim does not take into account important factors such as the availability of providers supplying services, the adoption life cycle inherent with any new product, and consumer choice.

While the number of suppliers ready and able to deliver NBN services in the first round of NBN regions, with FttP, weren’t nearly as comprehensive as what there is today, this lack of accessibility isn’t the only important factor to consider when looking at this data. As with all products, a natural adoption life cycle will take place, with Innovators and Early Adopters making a small, but meaningful portion of the market; it’s these ‘guinea pigs’ that give the majority of consumers the confidence in the new product to adopt it themselves, or learn from someone else’s mistakes.

Another consideration is that measuring popularity is a factor of choice, which isn’t something that consumers have here; the options are to adopt whichever form of NBN is available in the area, or switch to or maintain existing connectivity not impacted by the decommissioning of PSTN phone lines.

While the final take-away from the analysis is up to interpretation, one good thing is clear; we’ve finally moved away from measuring “premises passed” to actual adoption rates – not only a step in the right direction towards accountability, but giving the public access to real and meaningful statistics about our nation’s ongoing NBN saga.

To see if NBN is appropriate for your business, or if you will be impacted by the decommissioning of PSTN lines, contact an Over the Wire representative or call us on 1300 689 689 today.

Media enquiries: Chris Jacko

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