NBN Co, UTS research to "push the capability of fibre"

NBN Co is hoping a fresh five-year research agreement with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) will identify opportunities to “push the capability of fibre”. 

The network operator said the joint research would also cover areas including AI and advanced sensing.

NBN Co said it wants access to “insights that could help [it] advance broadband technologies to continuously improve customer experience and strengthen the resilience and performance of the network.”

“We expect that ten years from now our network will carry three times more data than it does today,” chief engineering officer John Parkin said in a statement.

“That pace of change means we need to be ready to evolve our network and continue to develop our capabilities.”

The two organisations have named the joint effort ASTRID - which stands for Advancing STEM, Technology Research, Innovation and Deployment.

“ASTRID will establish a new research team at UTS which will focus on technologies relevant to nbn and deliver impactful outcomes for nbn as well as the wider telecommunications sector,” UTS vice-chancellor and president Professor Andrew Parfitt said.

NBN Co and UTS previously had a partnership that was formed back in May 2018.