Dark fibre. This isn't a description of All-Bran, but what Wikipedia describes as "an unused optical fibre, available for use in fibre-optic communication".
The term also originally referred to the potential network capacity of telecommunication infrastructure, but some of Aussie Broadband's dark fibre is already being lit up with the first new customer, with plenty more expected to add fibre to their communications diets in short order, too.
General Manager Sales, Aaron O’Keeffe said that Stage one, which comprises a 20km fibre loop around the Melbourne CBD and Port Melbourne, "is now ready for business".
“We’re also delighted to offer customer speeds up to ten gigabit per second (10 Gbps) – not many telcos are currently providing this.”
Aussie Broadband's first customer to connect to the new network is AI English in Southbank, Melbourne.
The AI English Facebook page says the company "specialises in online English tutoring lessons, utilising innovative video technology to live-stream classes from our Melbourne studios to classrooms across the world:.
Marketing Manager Andrew Raphael said the company was delighted, stating: "We’re very happy to be the first customer to get connected to Aussie Broadband’s new fibre network. We wanted high-speed internet and something that has the option to be scalable in the future.
“Aussie Broadband’s prices are very cost effective and it’s also an Australian-based company. So we’ve signed up for the 2 Gbps plan, but we have the potential to go to 10 Gbps if we want to.”
O'Keeffe said the Aussie Broadband team was pleased to see things progress so quickly, even despite the lockdown in Melbourne.
“Naturally, we expected a few delays with some businesses currently closed in Melbourne’s CBD due to the pandemic, but thankfully, it didn’t have any significant impact on our progress.
“Optic fibre is the fastest medium and the ideal choice when it comes to powering Cloud services, IP phone systems, CRM software, business email, voice, video and any other end-user business internet services.
“Ultimately, our plan is to build fully diverse routes to over 75 NBN points of interconnect and 24 key data centres across Australia,” O'Keeffe concluded.
More information about Aussie Broadband’s enterprise NBN products can be found here.
The company successfully launched on the ASX two weeks ago and has just won the "Customer Service Organisation of the Year (Large)" at the 2020 Australian Service Excellence Awards (ASEAs).
Aussie Broadband is now the fifth largest provider of NBN services in Australia, but at this rate, whoever is in fourth place had better watch out!
Here are two photos of the rollout in progress:
