NBN Co, the company building the national broadband network, says businesses in areas where existing copper-based networks have already been switched off will need to work with their retailer to move their affected services over to the NBN access network.

But, all other businesses will have the normal 18-month window to migrate their services to the new network from the day they are able to connect.

NBN Co has released a series of White Papers announcing businesses within its fixed-line footprint must now plan for the migration of services such as Ethernet Lite, Wholesale Business Digital Subscriber Lines (BDSL) and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) phone and Internet lines to the new network.  

According to the company, while there have been forced disconnection dates for most business grade services such as phone, Internet, and EFTPOS since 2014, this is the first time it has triggered the disconnection of "Special Services", which simultaneously use voice, video and data services.

NBN Co says that with an estimated 200,000 services scheduled to commence disconnection from November 2018 onwards, it is increasing its communication activity to businesses with "Special Services" to encourage them to prepare to move these “complex systems” to the NBN access network with as much time as possible.

“It’s important for businesses to know that moving these services to the NBN access network is not an automatic process and can take longer than switching over standard voice and broadband services,” says NBN Co executive general manager of Business, Sales and Marketing, Ben Salmon.

“To increase awareness about what businesses need to do to make the switch, we are boosting our communications activity by refreshing information on the NBN website about ‘Special Services’, commencing direct mail marketing and having one-on-one engagements with industry and enterprise customers who may be affected.

“We are particularly urging large businesses that have multiple sites, high and symmetrical speed requirements, multi-line telephony and video conferencing facilities as well as small and medium-sized businesses with multiple phone lines to get in touch with their service providers and make a plan to move over to the new network.

“Businesses that have made the migration early are already starting to see the benefits such as embracing services like cloud computing, multi-line video conferencing and multimedia rich applications to maximise efficiency and lower operating costs.”

Here’s NBN Co’s white paper disconnection process:

Questions to ask before connecting your business to the NBN access network:

• What business products are offered to replace my existing products?
• How much data/what plans based on wholesale speed tiers do I need?
• Will my existing services be affected?
• How should I prepare for the migration process?
• Will my devices be compatible?

To learn more about "Special Services" for business as well as what needs to be done before connecting to the NBN  access network, visit the NBN Co website.

NBN CO says the NBN access network is currently available to more than one in two Australians; is scheduled to be three-quarters built by mid-next year; and complete by 2020.

Graphics: courtesy NBN Co