Telstra set to finally switch on ADSL 2+ in over 900 telephone exchanges

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 06 February 2008 09:08

Opinion and Analysis

According to Telstra, the specific details of which (and when) exchanges are to be switched on are as follows:

High-speed ADSL2+ broadband can provide network speeds of up to 20 Megabits per second (Mbps) depending on factors including the distance of a user from the exchange.  ADSL2+ can provide speeds of 12 to 20 Mbps to users within 1.5 kilometres of an exchange, and approximately 8 Mbps to users three kilometres from an exchange. These speeds are up to 350 times faster than a standard 56kbps dial-up connection, and up to 78 times faster than a standard 256kbps ADSL connection.

Telstra will activate the following new ADSL2+ services –

•    370 telephone exchanges serving nearly 1.8 million premises will be upgraded within seven working days – within the first 48 hours exchanges will be upgraded serving nearly one million premises in locations such as Alice Springs (NT), Banora Point (NSW), Buderim (Qld), Deer Park (Vic), Kalgoorlie and Karratha (WA), Newtown (Tas) and Victor Harbor (SA); and within seven working days exchanges will be upgraded serving locations such as Ayr (Qld), Aldinga (SA), Mittagong (NSW), Lakes Entrance (Vic), Sandy Bay (Tas) and Madjimup (WA).

•    132 telephone exchanges serving 230,000 premises will be upgraded within three weeks – serving locations such as Loxton (SA), Tully (Qld), Narromine (NSW), Camperdown (Vic), Howard Springs (NT), Smithton (Tas) and Yanchep (WA).

•    An additional 405 exchanges serving more than 330,000 premises will be upgraded within 200 days as Telstra completes additional work – serving locations such as Grovedale (Vic), Tumbarumba (NSW), Barcaldine (Qld), Ceduna (SA), Forrestdale (WA) and Cambridge (Tas).

The 900 additional exchanges that will provide ADSL2+ high-speed broadband serve –

•    approximately 730,000 homes and businesses in NSW
•    more than 660,000 homes and businesses in Victoria
•    more than 570,000 homes and businesses in Queensland
•    more than 170,000 homes and businesses in Western Australia
•    nearly 80,000 homes and businesses in South Australia
•    more than 120,000 homes and businesses in Tasmania
•    more than 50,000 homes and businesses in the Northern Territory
•    more than 2,000 homes and businesses in the Australian Capital Territory.

Telstra says that existing BigPond members in these areas on standard ADSL plans can call 13-POND to take advantage of the faster speeds by upgrading their plans, and that some customers may also need to upgrade their modem.

My take? The biggest shame is that Australians in regions where ADSL2+ should have been switched on months ago have been forced to wait, stuck on slower dial-up, expensive satellite, or expensive Next G wireless.

Thankfully, the ADSL2+ roadblock has finally been overcome. Now when will we see the same happen for the oft-promised fibre network - and when will Telstra dramatically increase download limits on the cheaper broadband packages that are so popular with most Australians?