NBN's fixed wireless network for rural Australia continues with 14 additional towers to go live

nbn — NBN Co workers arrange fibre-optic cables used in the National Broadband Network in west Sydney, July 11, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz

The growth of NBN's fixed wireless network continuous with 14 towers are expected to go live this month, Minister for Regional Communications Fiona Nash stated. Up to 31 towers were turned on last month.

At least 500,000 Australians now have access to fixed wireless services as well as maximum speeds of 50 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second upload. These will double to 100 megabits per second download and 40 megabits per second upload in 2018.

"The fixed wireless roll out is flying along and expected to be mostly finished in 2018,” the minister declared. Fixed wireless has one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings on the NBN.

"Some 31 fixed wireless towers went live around Australia in June, with another 14 to be turned on in coming weeks," Nash said, according to a media release. Six percent of Australians are expected to get access to fixed wireless towers, mostly in rural areas and smaller towns.

Fixed wireless towers will service areas from Jurien Bay in West Australia to Port Clinton in South Australia, through to Somersby in New South Wales to Lockyer Bay in Queensland. Fixed wireless brings super-fast broadband through 1,700 fixed wireless towers around Australia.

Nash previously announced a major increase in data allowances to be delivered by the Sky Muster satellite service. Customers will soon get access to 100 gigabytes of data at peak times per month.

Under Labor, Sky Muster users will soon obtain 35 gigabytes per month at peak times. Two thirds of premises outside major urban areas in Australia were able to order NBN services since this month.

Meanwhile in the US, NetComm Wireless Limited has announced an initiative to supply the Outdoor Wireless Antennas needed to bring Fixed Wireless Internet connectivity to underserved premises and select rural areas. It enabled Fixed Wireless availability in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida.

The new service intends to serve more than 400,000 locations in 18 states by the end of the year as part of the FCC Connect America Fund commitment. "In low population rural and underserved locations, Fixed Wireless is proven to offer the most effective solution and we are pleased to enable a large-scale rollout that will allow homes and businesses to achieve reliable access to essential online government, education and health services," Jim Berridge, North America Executive Vice President at NetComm Wireless, said, according to Sys-Con Media.

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