Patton restrained on NBN Co planned use of ultra-fast XG technology

The IA chief, a long-time critic of NBN Co’s mixed-technology model (MTM) for the broadband network -  with a preference for an all-fibre network - said on Tuesday that on its own projections, the NBN rollout will “probably be completed before XG.Fast is readily available”.

“This is not to say that G.Fast is not a relevant technology, it’s just we’ll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, we again call on the Government to review its MTM strategy.”

Patton also commented critically on an NBN Co and UK telco BT jointly commissioned study by Ovum that predicted that G.fast technology would be serving nearly 30 million subscriber homes and businesses around the world by 2021 – and that XG.Fast technology is to be deployed across Europe.

{loadposition peter}"G.Fast, or better still XG.Fast, is potentially useful technology, but even in Europe it is only being rolled out to a very small (11%) of premises,” Patton notes.

“One risk in adopting this technology, if it becomes widely used globally, will be a lack of available equipment. We've seen this problem in the past. It held back the development of satellite TV for several years for example".

“When XG.Fast hits the market, assuming the trials lead to commercialisation, stocks will probably be hard to get (and expensive) because other countries will want it too.”

"The most significant point made by Ovum is that the EU has a 2020 target of 50% of premises with 100Mbps or better. This shows up our unsatisfactory current NBN strategy and how uncompetitive we'll be if we don't revert to fibre ASAP," Patton concludes.

And, in a final swipe at NBN Co and the Government, Patton is sceptical about the timing of the release of the Ovum report.

“I'm guessing it was coincidental that this report was dropped the day before nbn is due to appear before a Senate Estimates committee hearing?”