NBN Co has launched a new ‘Network Extensions’ option that allows operators of ATMs and traffic and environmental infrastructure to use the company’s network to connect their devices.
Today’s announcement in follows a trial with a traffic management system operator, NBN Co said.
Initially, the service will only be available on the network operator’s fibre to the node (FTTN) infrastructure, but NBN Co said it planned to expand that to other fixed-line technologies.
NBN Co in January 2017 first sought expressions of interest for a technical trial involving transport infrastructure within its FTTN and fibre to the premises (FTTP) footprint in New South Wales and Queensland.
“The technical trial is intended to field-test the technical feasibility of supplying the NEBS [NBN Co Ethernet Bitstream Service] to non-premises end-point locations at transport infrastructure sites to enable service providers to supply telecommunications services in connection with transport infrastructure such as traffic lights,” a test agreement issued by NBN Co in November 2017 said.
The trials were concluded by May 2019.
“As we reach the final stages of the NBN access network rollout, Network Extensions highlights how NBN Co is moving to address the needs of different customers to connect and help to lift their digital capability,” said NBN Co’s chief technology officer, Ray Owen, in a statement released today.
“This is a market segment characterised by a wide variety of specialised devices and complex services connected by a range of aging networks and technologies.”
“By bringing this infrastructure onto the NBN access network, operators have significant potential to simplify their operations and explore new innovation opportunities made possible by high-speed broadband and the emerging world of the IoT,” the CTO said.
The new service is available for three broad categories of device:
• Traffic and transport infrastructure. An NBN Co document states this includes “traffic management, traffic signalling and traffic control infrastructure (including traffic lights, variable speed signs and speed indicator systems) operated by or on behalf of a state, territory, or local government authority” as well as “public transport infrastructure (including bus, tram, and railway infrastructure)” and “emergency roadside communications, including roadside assistance telephones”. It does not include any camera or CCTV infrastructure, such as road safety cameras, or digital billboards.
• Standalone ATMs.
• Environmental infrastructure (such as weather stations, air quality monitoring infrastructure, and fire risk area monitoring and CCTV).