Telstra upgrades broadband network

More than 500 exchanges on the Telstra network will be upgraded this financial year as part of a broadband rollout across NSW.

Sydney will soon be completely broadband-friendly, with the two remaining outdated exchanges to be upgraded this financial year under a $35 million NSW broadband plan. The upgrade of these two exchanges will complete the broadband upgrade for the entire Sydney metropolitan area. Telstra Country Wide regional managing director NSW Roger Bamber said the state-wide rollout would be Telstra's most ambitious project to date. "Telstra's fibre optic network is extensive," Bamber said.

"It reaches almost every corner of the state and consists of nearly 40,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable, stretching from Bourke to Bondi and Tweed Heads to Tarcutta."

Across NSW 400 sites are already broadband-ready, Bamber said.

In addition to the broadband upgrade, 30 more exchanges will be business digital subscriber line (BDSL)- enabled and a further 450 exchanges will be upgraded with Telstra's government wideband Internet protocol (GWIP) service.

Bamber said Telstra had brought forward plans to upgrade 435 regional exchanges with GWIP to meet the NSW government's demand for city-equivalent broadband services across its regional agencies.