Getting the most from the nbn™ broadband

access networkA common-sense guide for Australian businesses

The nbn™ access network –making it a part of your digital strategyWhether your business is big or small, digital strategy has never been more important. With Australia’s new access network playing a core role, this quick-read guide is about cutting through the clutter and making sure that we add real value to your business.

Right now, across Australia, nbn is building the infrastructure that will be used by phone and internet providers to connect you to a new broadband service. By replacing and upgrading parts of the existing landline phone and internet network, nbn is bringing more Australians access to broadband services.*

What’s more, the competition created by offering the same wholesale products to all phone and internet providers using the nbn™ access network, is intended to help facilitate a greater choice of plans for Australians.

*Services provided over the nbn™ broadband access network will be replacing phone and internet services provided over most of the existing landline networks, including copper and the majority of HFC networks within the fixed line footprint. Services provided over existing fibre networks (including in-building, health and education networks) and some special and business services may not be affected. To find out if your services will be affected, please contact your current phone and internet provider. For more information, visit nbn.com.au/switchoff or call 1800 687 626.

Making the complex a little bit simpler

The nbn™ access network is designed to transport one of the most important products of the 21st century—data. And we’re here to help make it work brilliantly for your business.

  The nbn™ access network is enabling choice for business users

For residential users, the switch to the nbn™ access network is relatively straight-forward. However, business users will have a range of options to consider—including switching to a solution on the nbn™ access network and/or looking at other connectivity options in the market. For example, depending on your location and specific ICT needs, you may be able to connect to the nbn™ access network and/or another infrastructure provider or, if your needs are simple, you could look at a consumer-grade connection.

It all depends on what is available to you, what works for you, and how you decide to integrate the nbn™ access network into your business.

 Taking the first important step

In this guide, we look at the various nbn™ building blocks that phone and internet providers use to create business-grade plans. This in turn will give you the knowledge to help choose the right options for your business when you talk to your provider, and ensure you get what you need from the nbn™ access network.

When a phone and internet provider develops business (and residential) plans using the nbn™ access network, those plans are constructed from two basic wholesale ingredients—the first of which is a Traffic Class, the second, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between nbn and the provider.

nbn offers three Traffic Classes that vary in capability, performance and priority at a wholesale level. At a wholesale level, your phone and internet provider can configure a service to carry data in each Traffic Class. Each of these Traffic Classes also offer different wholesale speed tiers—with some delivering a better performance by offering support for frame delay, frame loss and jitter.

By combining different wholesale Traffic Classes with optional enhanced SLAs between providers, businesses can choose from a variety of connectivity plans to suit their specific needs.#

Wholesale broadband speed

Each Traffic Class has its own set of speed tiers. Traffic Class 1 suits all voice and alarm applications. Traffic Class 2 suits business-grade applications and offers speeds greater than Traffic Class 1. Traffic Class 4 offers the highest bandwidth speed tiers and is designed for ‘best-effort’ quality.*

Committed Information Rate (CIR) or Peak Information Rate (PIR)

nbn will prioritise the delivery of CIR Traffic Classes over PIR Traffic Classes—something that will be noticeable during the busiest times of day. Your provider is responsible for selecting Traffic Classes and their capacity over the nbn™ access network.

Wholesale symmetrical or asymmetrical bandwidth

Traffic Classes 1 and 2 offer symmetrical CIR bandwidth in each speed tier (i.e. the wholesale bandwidth for uploading and downloading data is the same), whereas Traffic Class 4 offers asymmetrical wholesale PIR bandwidth in each wholesale speed tier (i.e. the wholesale bandwidth for downloading is higher than for uploading).*

Traffic Class 1 (TC1)

TC1 is primarily for voice services—specifically Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIP). TC1 provides CIR at the wholesale level, and symmetrical wholesale download and upload speeds, which allow communications to be carried with priority in both directions of a network— a prerequisite for high-quality voice services.*

Traffic Class 2 (TC2)

TC2 provides a wholesale CIR and symmetrical bandwidth to providers.* TC2 is designed to help providers support most business-grade data services, such as video conferencing or e-commerce applications. And for businesses with these requirements, a plan based on TC2 can also accommodate voice services.

Traffic Class 4 (TC4)

TC4 is designed for consumer-grade or non-critical business services, making it a ‘best-effort’ service i.e. one where performance is dependent on factors both within and outside of the nbn™ access network— including how providers configure the services they get from nbn. TC4 also provides an asymmetrical wholesale bandwidth service with greater download speeds designed to cater for the typical traffic patterns of internet usage.*

What makes up a Traffic Class

Understanding each Traffic Class

You’re probably familiar with Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which cover fault rectification, when it’s available and how long it takes to resolve.

For fault trouble tickets raised between 8am and 5pm on business days, the Standard Service Level for all nbn™ services available to phone and internet providers applies (see table below). Once your provider has given nbn all necessary information to allow nbn to investigate the fault, the trouble ticket will be accepted. Generally, faults in urban areas and other locations where attendance or works aren’t required, will aim to be rectified by 5pm the next business day after a trouble ticket is accepted (subject to certain exceptions).

If your business has critical data needs, we recommend you speak with your phone and internet provider about having enhanced Service Level Agreements (eSLAs) in place with nbn in relation to your bundle or package. This means nbn will provide a higher level of support to your provider, who in turn should be able to provide a higher level of support to you.

 The right questions to ask your phone and internet provider

Make sure the plans your phone and internet provider suggest are the right size for your business’ data needs. You may find that for some low-priority business services, a plan based on TC4 plus an eSLA in place between nbn and your provider meets your needs. While for voice services, you might look at a plan based on TC1, which is designed to primarily support voice communication.

Please note that all times assume a trouble ticket is lodged in an urban area. Rectification time may vary depending on the location of your premises. All times refer to the times offered by nbn to providers, and the times offered to you by your provider may differ from those listed below.

SLAs — a quick reference guide

SLA or eSLA Operational period Rectification time

Standard 8am-5pm, business days 5pm next business day

Enhanced-12 7am-9pm 12 hours

Enhanced-8 7am-9pm 8 hours

Enhanced-12 (24/7) 24/7 12 hours

Enhanced-8 (24/7) 24/7 8 hours

Enhanced-6 7am-9pm 6 hours

Enhanced-4 7am-9pm 4 hours

Enhanced-6 (24/7) 24/7 6 hours

Enhanced-4 (24/7) 24/7 4 hours

#SLAs apply to fixed line technologies, including Fibre to the Building, Fibre to the Curb, Fibre to the Premises, HFC and Fibre to the Node. *Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control (like your equipment quality, software, signal quality, broadband plan and how your service provider designs its network). nbn is a provider of wholesale speeds to internet providers. nbn™ wholesale speed tiers available to your internet provider vary depending on the access technology in your area.

Wholesale Traffic Classes

Service Level Agreements

Many Australian businesses use ‘Special Services’ for multi-line telephony and corporate data network connections, as well as other services. Examples of Special Services include ISDN, Business DSL and Ethernet Lite. And, like most existing landline phone and internet services, many Special Services will be disconnected, so it’s important you migrate them before your disconnection date.*

Migrating Special Services to the nbn™ access network can be complex, but understanding how migration works comes down to three simple things: knowing which of your Special Services are affected, taking note of each of the four affected Special Services disconnection phases, and being aware of each of your sites’ 18-month ready-for-service windows.

 Knowing which Special Services are affected

Affected Special Services are separated into four categories, with each of the four categories having a different disconnection date. So be sure to find out which Special Services you use for your business and whether they will be affected.

 Affected Special Services disconnection dates

Phase one of affected Special Services disconnection begins 12 November 2018, with the next three disconnection phases taking place over the following 12 months. However, as Special Services migration can take time, we recommend beginning the transition no less than six months before the disconnection date.*

 Your site’s ready-for-service window

Depending on where you’re located, and the nbn™ access technology you’re getting, you may find you have a rollout region disconnection date (RRDD) (for standard phone and internet services), and a Special Services disconnection date (SSDD). These two dates may not necessarily coincide with each other. Whichever disconnection date occurs last will determine when your affected Special Services will begin the disconnection process.*

Affected Special Services disconnection phases*

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4

Ethernet Lite DSL, Wholesale Business DSL (W-BDSL)

ATM, Wholesale ATM, CustomNet

Megalink, Wholesale Transmission (WTx), DDS Fastway, Data Access Radial (DAR)

ISDN, ISDN2, Frame Relay

12 November 2018, or when your premises is due for disconnection, whichever comes later

29 April 2019, or when your premises is due for disconnection, whichever comes later

31 May 2019, or when your premises is due for disconnection, whichever comes later

30 September 2019, or when your premises is due for disconnection, whichever comes later

Your business may have the ability to change the default access technology provided by nbn – offering you the option of bringing fibre directly to your business premises. If your business is eligible, applying to switch is as easy as submitting an application directly to nbn once the nbn™ access network is available in your area. Conditions, eligibility requirements and costs will apply.

At the same time, it’s important to understand the requirements of your business and what nbn can provide to your phone and internet provider over your existing technology – you may be surprised that it meets your needs already. The wholesale product options that your retail plan is based on, e.g. your Traffic Class’ wholesale bandwidth size (see page 6), can also have a significant impact on the performance of your applications and business network.̂

 Making the investment

If your business premises is found eligible, it will cost to change the technology infrastructure at your premises, with the price dependent on the size and complexity of the deployment, as well as factors such as location and availability of infrastructure. Applications will also only be processed once the nbn™ access network technology for your area has been deployed. The table below shows the types of nbn™ access network technology eligible to switch. But additional eligibility requirements also apply.

Network technology Eligible individual premises switch

FTTB to FTTP Yes

FTTN to FTTP Yes

FTTC to FTTP Yes

Fixed Wireless to FTTP Yes

Fixed Wireless to FTTN N/A

Fixed Wireless to FTTB N/A

Satellite to Fixed Wireless N/A

Satellite to FTTP Yes

Satellite to FTTN N/A

Satellite to FTTB N/A

HFC to FTTP Under request

*Disconnection dates vary and not all Special Services will be disconnected. Whether a service will be disconnected and the timing of disconnection will depend on factors including the type of Special Service, when the nbn™ broadband access network is available, which nbn™ access technology is available and whether Telstra has issued a BAU product exit in respect of a Special Service. To find out if your services will be affected, and applicable disconnection dates, contact your phone and internet service provider.

^Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control (like your equipment quality, software, signal quality, broadband plan and how your service provider designs its network). nbn is a provider of wholesale speeds to internet providers. nbn™ wholesale speed tiers available to your internet provider vary depending on the access technology in your area.

Special Services and why they are critical

nbn™ business access technology options

FTTB – Fibre to the Building FTTN – Fibre to the Node

FTTC - Fibre to the Curb FTTP – Fibre to the Premises

HFC – Hybrid Fibre Coaxial

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The role the nbn™ access network can play in your business

The role the nbn™ access network plays in your digital future will largely depend on the size of your business. You’ll also need to consider the degree to which your data speeds and connectivity options affect the experience of your customers—as well as the interactive applications you use, such as video conferencing, 24/7 e-commerce applications and a wide variety of cloud-based services.

Sole traders and micro-businesses1–2 employees

As a micro-business, you may want to consider plans that are based on a combination of ‘best-effort’ Traffic Class 4 with an enhanced Service Level Agreement between nbn and your provider. Depending on your need for fixed line voice, you may also want to look at a plan based on dedicated Traffic Class 1.*

Medium businesses20–200 employees

As a medium-sized business, you’re almost certainly thinking about the impact and benefits of digital transformation, with many manual processes being replaced with online alternatives —including the way you manage supply chains and customer relationships. Fully embracing digital transformation will probably call for a plan based on Traffic Class 2, as well as enhanced SLAs between nbn and your provider to help manage the risk of downtime for mission-critical services.* Depending on the number of fixed line voice services you have, you may be able to fold VoIP and business data into your plan based on TC2.

Small businessesUp to 20 employees

As the size of your business increases, the demands on your business applications will likely increase—as will the likelihood of needing a plan based on Traffic Class 2 (TC2). TC2 is designed to give your provider a Committed Information Rate (CIR), and wholesale symmetrical upload and download speed.* If you feel you can get by with a plan based on a ‘best-effort’ Traffic Class, but have fixed line telephony through a PABX or similar, we recommend you look at a plan based on dedicated Traffic Class 1. Enhanced SLAs between nbn and your provider would also ensure shorter timeframes to rectify faults.

Enterprises200+ employees

National, multi-site organisations may want Fibre to the Premises in as many locations as possible, so it’s worth talking to your nbn™ representative to check whether a change of technology is possible across each site. You’ll also likely be taking advantage of a plan based on Traffic Class 2, with enhanced SLAs between nbn and your provider ensuring fast connectivity and shorter timeframes for fault rectification. Depending on your digital needs, you may also want to talk to your phone and internet provider about tools like Wide Area Network (WAN) optimisation to get the best possible performance from your WAN.*

*Your experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ broadband access network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control (like your equipment quality, software, signal quality, broadband plan and how your service provider designs its network). nbn is a provider of wholesale speeds to internet providers. nbn™ wholesale speed tiers available to your internet provider vary depending on the access technology in your area.

Your next steps:Check whether your business is ready to switch at nbn.com.au/business If not, register for email updates at nbn.com.au/register

Consider your business’ needs carefully before choosing a plan through a provider

Contact your chosen provider and switch to a new plan over their network.

Visit nbn.com.au/business to discover more about the role the nbn™ access network can play in the digital transformation of your business.

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1830060_B_O© 2018 nbn co ltd. ‘nbn’, ‘Sky Muster’ and the Aurora device are trade marks of nbn co ltd | ABN 86 136 533 741.