NBN Co works on its fibre upgrade processes

NBN Co has made changes to its field service processes for upgrading customers from copper to fibre, aiming to complete the “majority” of orders with a single appointment, and give better visibility into more complex switchovers.

An indicative service improvement plan [pdf] - a new type of annual regulatory filing that would come with a revised special access undertaking (SAU) - provides some detail on efforts by NBN Co to simplify the fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) to full fibre transition process.

NBN Co said it is “currently updating” its FTTN to FTTP upgrade process “to enable a single appointment for the majority of orders through removal of the pre-activation work order.”

It said in fineprint that this is “not available at all premises and subject to feasibility assessment”; however, if successful, it would reduce the number of appointments required to upgrade a line, and “reduce customer lead times for upgrades to occur”.

“This has required updates to fibre installation standard practices,” NBN Co said.

“With implementation commenced in July 2023, the benefits of this program are anticipated to be realised over the course of FY24.”

For FTTN upgrades that can’t be completed “on the initial appointment using industry standard installation practices, and therefore require network remediation activity”, NBN Co said these customers would experience “a refined complex lead-in process”.

This, it said, is “designed to give customers, internet providers and technicians a better experience through the complex order completion path with appropriate visibility of the remediation work scope and completion date progress available throughout the process.”

As reported by iTnews last month, NBN Co missed its activation target for fibre upgrades by a substantial margin.

Its explanation for the miss at the time was that fewer retailers than expected were selling upgrades, because of system changes needed on the retailers’ end.

But the indicative service improvement plan shows that the upgrade processes themselves may also have played some part, if multiple truck rolls are required to activate each customer.

Customers cohorts in both the FTTN and fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) footprints are able to initiate an upgrade to full fibre by placing an order for a faster service than they have today, of at least 100Mbps or more, and keeping it for at least a year.

The service improvement plan also contains works in FY24 to improve the speed and stability of FTTC and HFC services.

In addition, there are a large number of initiatives related to an ongoing enterprise simplification program at the company, though all milestones intended for FY24 are withheld from the draft.