NBN Co has connected a 36-storey apartment building in Australia to the National Broadband Network (NBN). The building is the largest multi-dwelling unit (MDU) to be hooked up to the network to date.
Art on the Park is a greenfield development located in William Street, Melbourne and comprises 376 apartments.
Connecting multi-dwelling units MDUs to the NBN has been problematic for NBN Co.
NBN Co classifies an MDU as a premise where two or more homes are joined by a common wall or property boundary and managed by a body corporate. MDUs make up around one-third of premises to receive the NBN via fibre-to-the-premises.
In October last year the government-owned company admitted it was still working out how to connect apartments to the NBN because each MDU was different and there was no single method for connecting them.
NBN Co has now signed four MDU contracts to provide project development services, which includes notifying residents and owners’ corporations about connections, survey, design and construction services.
The contracts include:
- a $27.7 million contract with Daly International for MDUs in Western Australia, Brisbane and the Gold Coast
- a contract with Downer EDI for MDUs in NSW, Victoria and the ACT
- a contract with Universal Communications Group Limited in Tasmania and Sydney
- a $17.9 million contract with ISG Management to connect MDUs in the Northern Territory and Queensland
While NBN Co has downplayed suggestions there is a labour shortage with the NBN, a recruitment firm for the organisation recently said there is a shortage of cablers to connect apartments to the network.
Sean McCartan, general manager in NSW for Talent International, told CIO the “major issue” with recruiting staff for connecting MDUs is that fibre-to-the-home connections for apartments is a relatively new process.
“[Thus] we tend to have a lot of difficulty finding those types of people. Other than the likes of Foxtel in Australia, there’s very few companies that do that, so they’re looking to up-skill people [with a] cabling background into new technology,” he said.
An NBN Co spokeswoman told Computerworld Australia in March this year that 347 MDUs had been connected to the NBN.
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