NSW Government trials NBN apps

Stuart Corner
Friday, 25 June 2010 17:58

Business IT - Networking

The NSW Government's Broadband Task Force, in conjunction with other organisations, has launched trials of NBN applications over the FTTH network being rolled out by Opticomm in the Parkbridge residential development in western Sydney.

The NSW minister for commerce, Paul Lynch, said up to 40 households at Parkbridge Estate would have access to four applications during the trial, which willl run until the end of the year.

He said that this initial trial would help inform a more comprehensive series of trials that would include the NBN first release sites in the Northern Tablelands at Armidale and at Minnamurra and Kiama Downs on the South Coast.

The initial trials will include:
- a smart metering system that will allow families and businesses to track their energy consumption in real time and adjust energy use accordingly;
- a touch screen communications system for people unable to access more common communications systems;
- a virtual world learning environment for school students using web cameras, computers and live video interaction;
- high-definition Internet TV.

For the smart metering trial Integral Energy will replace normal electricity meters with smart meters that will collect data across the day and provide residents with near real time updates on their home energy use.

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