NBN Co denies agencies plan
However, industry experts would welcome the idea of health organisations becoming retailers on the NBN and bundling access with critical services such as patient monitoring and education.
The box unit on which the NBN fibre-to-the-premises network terminates outside the home has four ethernet ports so consumers could, if they wished, sign up for services from four different NBN retailers. NBN Co has been reported as planning to reserve one of these four ports for government agencies to deliver unmetered services to homes.
An NBN Co spokeswoman said that any agency wanting to provide services over the NBN would be treated like any other retailer and pay for capacity at the same rates. She said there was considerable scope for government agencies, particularly in health and education, to use the network as a basis for a range of innovative services.
She dismissed suggestions that one of the four ports would be "reserved" for such services.
By becoming an NBN service provider, a health or education agency could bundle broadband access with other services such as in-home care. This would mean bandwidth and quality of service would be determined by the agency not by the end user or the NBN retailer. There would be no danger of the service being throttled when a user's monthly data quota was reached.
Professor Rod Tucker, director of the Institute for the Broadband- Enabled Society at the University of Melbourne, said it was important that government providers of services such as e-health, aged care and disability care could guarantee the availability and quality of the connection to the home.
"If access to customers, patients is not ubiquitous because the services cannot be provided over some ISPs' networks, or if a particular customer's data limit for the month has been exceeded, then the benefits of such a universal service become limited," he said.
Sarah Dods, health services leader for the CSIRO's digital productivity project, said it would be unrealistic to expect elderly citizens most in need of tele-health monitoring services to organise an NBN connection from a retail service provider. "Our Smarter Safer Homes project is designed to enable elderly people to stay at home longer and to replace those pendant alarms. We'd monitor humidity, doors opening, etc to make sure they are washing themselves, moving around, cooking and eating properly.
"For these people, signing up for an NBN service would be just too complicated. The health service provider would come in and install a box on the NBN connection, and the billing for the NBN service would become part of the community care package."
In addition to becoming an NBN service provider, any health services organisation wanting to use the network would need to register with the Australian Communications and Media Authority and meet the obligations of licensed telecommunications carriers. Dr Dods envisaged that many would avoid this complexity by partnering with existing telco providers.
Frequently Asked Questions about this Article…
No. NBN Co has denied plans to reserve one of the four ethernet ports on the fibre-to-the-premises termination box for government agencies. The company says any agency wanting to provide services over the NBN would be treated like any other retailer and pay for capacity at the same rates.
Yes. Industry experts and NBN Co say there is considerable scope for health and education organisations to become NBN service providers. As retailers they could bundle broadband access with services such as patient monitoring, in‑home care and education.
The NBN fibre termination box outside a home has four ethernet ports. That structure means a household could, in theory, subscribe to services from up to four different NBN retailers, and it prompted reports (which NBN Co denies) about reserving a port for agency services.
According to the article, no. If a health or education agency becomes the NBN service provider and bundles access with critical services, bandwidth and quality of service would be set by the agency rather than the end user or another retailer, so the service wouldn’t be throttled when a customer hits a monthly data cap.
Any health services organisation wanting to act as an NBN service provider would need to register with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and meet the obligations that apply to licensed telecommunications carriers. The article notes many organisations might instead partner with existing telco providers to avoid this complexity.
Professor Rod Tucker and others argue guaranteed availability and quality are essential because services like e‑health must reach patients reliably. If services can’t be delivered over some ISPs’ networks or are interrupted by a patient’s data limit, the benefits of a universal telehealth service are limited.
Projects like CSIRO’s Smarter Safer Homes envision health providers installing a box on the NBN connection and monitoring factors such as humidity, doors opening and movement. That lets providers check whether elderly people are washing, moving around, cooking and eating, and can be billed as part of a community care package so the person doesn’t need to sign up to an ISP themselves.
No. NBN Co’s spokeswoman said agencies wanting to provide services over the NBN would be treated the same as other retailers and would pay for capacity at the same rates. There is no indication of preferential pricing or reserved capacity for government agencies.
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