NBN takes high-speed internet on the road

The GadgetGuy™ in gadgetguy.com.au, Peter Blasina, was master of ceremonies today at the launch of NBN Co’s $32.5m operations centre in Melbourne’s Docklands.

The centre will function as the National Broadband Network’s control hub, housing the facilities that will manage the day-to-day operations of the Australia-wide broadband service and enable telcos and ISPs to test the products and equipment they will make available as the NBN rolls out.

NBN Co also unveiled two hands-on interactive resources – an experience centre at Docklands and a mobile demonstration vehicle – that will enable Australians to see for themselves how the NBN will work, what it involves and how communities stand to benefit as high speed broadband is delivered to every home and business.

NBN Co anticipates that 100,000 people a year will visit the Discovery Centre in Melbourne and the NBN truck as spreads the high-speed broadband message throughout Australia. It its first year, the truck is scheduled to cover 60,000 kilometres and visit 100 towns.

The NBN Co truck will spread the high speed broadband message to 100 towns in its first year on the road.

Pete joined Senator Conroy, Victorian Technology Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips, NBN Co Chairman, Harrison Young, and NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley to launch the new facilities and the mobile Discovery Centre.

Pete says that today is all about bringing the NBN from vapourware to reality.

“The facilities at Docklands are the nerve centre of the National Broadband Network and a hub for future innovation as we bring broadband to life across Australia,” he says.

There four facilities opened today include:

Discovery Centre: A hands-on interactive educational experience at Docklands. Visitors can learn about and experience for themselves the benefits of the NBN in an environment built to resemble the interior of a family home.

NBN Co Demonstration Truck: A 23-tonne mobile interactive discovery centre that aims to bring the NBN experience to life. The NBN Co truck opens up to feature impressive outdoor displays, while its interior has been fitted with high-definition screens, cameras and audio equipment that bring the NBN experience to life. Like the Discovery Centre, it will feature practical displays showing the NBN equipment that Australians can expect to see in their homes and businesses. It is expected to visit more than 100 towns and cities across Australia over the next 12 months, starting next week in Tasmania.

Network Service and Operations Centre (NSOC): Open 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year, this will enable NBN Co to monitor the network across the country, detect faults, manage orders and support the telephone and internet service providers that will sell broadband services to the public.

Back-end systems of the NBN network.

National Test Facility (NTF): Will allow telephone and internet service providers to test new services before they are rolled out across the NBN. It will also be used to test NBN Co’s new products such as the planned multicast capability that is being designed to give telephone and internet providers the ability to deliver high-quality video to support a new wave of services such as IPTV in high definition.