Telstra will spend $28 million upgrading its network to make broadband Internet available to an additional 250,000 customer lines.
The new program aims to deliver ADSL to customers affected by line equipment known as RIMS [Remote Integrated Multiplexor Systems] or large customer multiplexer systems, sometimes referred to as large pair gains systems. This equipment means lines cannot access high-speed Internet services even though an exchange is enabled.
Many suburban areas in capital cities and regional areas that experienced rapid growth during the 1990s will benefit from this program.
RIMS or pair gains systems were installed to deliver telephone services to areas of high demand such as residential estates and apartment blocks during times when delivering high-speed Internet services on normal phone lines was not contemplated.
Group managing director of Telstra Broadband, Bruce Akhurst, says the capital works are part of an ongoing program to increase the availability of ADSL.
"This year, Telstra's initiatives to bring broadband ADSL to more people have resulted in this popular high-speed Internet service being made available to 81% of Australian household and business lines - up from 75% in January this year," he says.
"Telstra will continue to build on its investment in broadbanding Australia, making ADSL available to around 90% of premises within the next two years."
Akhurst says Telstra has extended the availability of broadband ADSL by one million additional lines in the past financial year through a range of initiatives, including:
- Bringing broadband ADSL to an additional 134 new exchange areas; with the introduction of the ADSL Demand Register in late 2003 driving the investment into 71 of these areas. Another 99 towns, the majority in rural areas, are set to gain broadband ADSL access via the register following Telstra's approval as a provider of ADSL services under the Australian government's Higher Bandwidth Incentive (HiBIS) Scheme.
- Developing and implementing new technical limits to increase the distance over which ADSL can be made available.
- Introducing a new process that identifies and uses alternative copper lines for customers wanting ADSL.
- Building new infrastructure in areas of high demand such as Pyrmont and Baulkham Hills in NSW and Mt Gravatt in Queensland.
A number of areas have already been identified as areas of demand under Telstra's latest ADSL extension program, including North Lakes/Mango Hill and Springfield in Queensland; Carramar/Tapping in Western Australia; Caroline Springs and Narre Warren in Victoria; Hampstead and Golden Grove in South Australia and suburbs north of Wollongong in NSW.
The $28 million upgrade program will operate in areas where the parent exchange has been ADSL enabled, and there is sufficient customer demand in the affected areas to make the upgrade economic.
The ADSL Demand Register, which is used to deliver ADSL to the exchange areas where demand is highest, has been, and will continue to be, used to collect expressions of interest in ADSL by customers in areas who need special additional network upgrades to obtain broadband ADSL.
There are limits on the reach of ADSL from a given exchange. Where it is not technically possible to provide ADSL, Telstra has other fast Internet options, such as BigPond ISDN, Broadband Regional Connect, and 2-Way Satellite.