NBN Co today announced the commercial launch of its fibre-to-the-basement technology, with 2000 premises across Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne set to receive the first connections.
More than one million premises are slated to receive FTTB technology, with 44 retail service providers now able to sell services on FTTB, the company said.
Around 2000 premises in apartment blocks across NSW, Victoria and the ACT are ready for service today.
NBN Co is aiming to have 6000 end users on the service by the middle of the year.
NBN Co chief customer officer John Simon said in a statement the FTTB pilot had proven existing infrastructure had a "critical role to play" in the NBN.
“Eliminating the need for individual building designs and in-building wiring cuts down on construction time. Removing the need to install new equipment in the home accelerates the ability of people to connect," he said.
The company's CEO Bill Morrow had initially pegged the product's launch for October last year, but NBN Co continued testing through the end of last year.
NBN Co has been piloting FTTB technology - which provides broadband to multi-dwelling units by running fibre to existing wiring in the basement of the building - since January last year.
The company deployed digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAMs) in 10 multi-dwelling units with an average mix of between 80 and 100 residential and commercial premises, and said users reported average speeds of 89Mbps down and 36Mbps up.
The pilot was a direct response to the threat posed by TPG's efforts to build its own fibre-to-the-basement network in 500,000 blocks across certain metropolitan areas.
TPG was forced to stop selling its FTTB plans following the introduction of a new carrier license condition in January, but put the service back on sale a month later after meeting the new requirements to offer wholesale access to its FTTB network.
