Terminology

Various abbreviations and definitions used within the NBN section:

  • FTTP: Fibre To the Premises - Where the fibre connects all the way to the premises (home) and capable of delivering high speed and low latency services. Refer to our FTTP page for more information.
  • FTTH: Fibre To The Home - An alternative name for FTTP. See above.
  • FTTB: Fibre To The Basement / Building - Where the fibre connects to the multi-tenant building (such as blocks of units or office suites) and the buildings internal cabling connects from the fibre termination point to each unit/office/etc. Refer to our FTTB page for more information.
  • FTTN: Fibre To The Node - Where the fibre connects to a road-side cabinet (the node) then local copper cabling is used to connect to each premises, typically using some/most of the old Telstra telephone copper cables. Refer to our FTTN page for more information.
  • FTTC: Fibre To The Cabinet - An alternative name for FTTN. See above.
  • FTTdp: Fibre To The Distribution Point - Where the fibre connects to a small unit, located in a pit very near to the premises, then using the existing Telstra telephone copper cable to connect into the premises. Refer to our FTTdp page for more information.
  • HFC: Hybrid Fibre Coaxial - Typically used by our old pay TV providers (Foxtel and Optus), where the fibre connects to a unit near the premises, then coaxial cables connect to the individual premises. Refer to our HFC page for more information.
  • FTTx: Fibre To The "x" - A generic term for the group of "Fibre To The ..." architectures, where fibre connects from the local exchange towards the customer premises.
  • RIM: Remote Integrated Multiplexer - Deployed by Telstra for many years and have often been an issue with customers connecting to the internet (dial-up). These have basically been upgraded (by installing a Mini-CMUX) or replaced with a CMUX unit. The standard RIM only supports standard telephone services and other Telstra special services (up to 480 services in total), and does NOT support ADSL or other broadband services.
  • CMUX: Customer Multiplexer - These are a newer version of RIM that does support broadband services in addition to the standard telephone services. These can be considered as early FTTN installations.
  • Mini-CMUX: Mini Customer Multiplexer - These are small CMUX units, equipped to only provide broadband services, which can be retro-fitted into RIM cabinets to add some ADSL services. Usually this requires removing two of the internal customer panels (totaling 120 services) to install the Mini-CMUX panels, thereby providing 48 (or 96) of the maximum 360 customers with ADSL services.

 

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