NBN Co, the company rolling out Australia's national broadband network, says it was forced to use fibre-to-the-node technology to connect Sydney's Royal Botanical Gardens because of the heritage listing of the 30-hectare site.
While it was originally meant to be connected by fibre-to-the-basement, this was changed to fibre-to-the-kerb when realisation dawned that no infrastructure could be built above ground, the company said in a blog post.
But again when access to the ducts and pipes beneath the gardens became difficult, it was decided to switch to FttN instead.
There were blockages in several of the pits and pipes and the presence of many mature trees also posed a problem.
{loadposition sam08}“The next stage would have been more invasive, costly and involve a lengthy approval process that could last months or even years,” NBN Co project manager Metro South, Chris Awad, said.
The company says it took a long discussion over six months before agreement was reached to use FttN technology.
“Macquarie St is in a heritage area, so you can’t just put a node in anywhere,” said Awad.
“We managed to find a suitable location that provides access, but avoided having to dig in the gardens altogether, which is much less invasive and doesn’t impact on performance.”
He said this was an example of the issues that would be faced by NBN Co as the rollout was ramped up in metropolitan areas.
“There is much more stakeholder involvement in inner city areas, particularly when it comes to heritage issues,” said Awad.