NBN Co prepares voice services for prime-time

NBN Co has revealed plans to automate user authentication for voice services in the coming weeks, in an effort to ramp up support for its dedicated VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) platform.

The National Broadband Network wholesaler

The National Broadband Network wholesaler, and service provider Primus, plan to test new software based on the TR-069 standard that would allow devices connected to the phone port on a user's network equipment to connect directly to the service provider's billing platform.

Demand for greater features on the NBN voice product has been particularly championed by Primus chief Tom Mazerski, who has pinpointed voice services as the single biggest pain-point of the transition to fibre networks.

The current planned software update

Mazerski has as well pushed NBN Co for greater feature capabilities following the current planned software update, allowing for identical services as those currently available for copper, including conference calling and compatibility with EFTPOS facilities.

"We understand that there will be a number of people who only want a telephone service and that we need to offer quality telephone services during making the transition to fibre as easy and straightforward as possible," he said.

The initial stages of the network rollout

But demand for such services could be sparse in the initial stages of the network rollout, particularly in existing built-up areas where copper services will continue providing standard telephony services until 18 months afterwards the NBN has finished rolling out in a given area.

Internode's Kellett confirmed it had no voice-only clients on the network during Primus, which advertises a $24.95 standalone voice product on the network, does not to tell the truth offer the service without a bundled broadband product.

The wholesale

The wholesale, and subsequently retail, costs of providing such a service are as well seen as prohibitive when compared to offering a standard VoIP product over an existing broadband connection.

The UNI-V port offers some benefits over a standard VoIP product, including compatibility with other legacy copper services - just as alarm monitoring - as then as backup power in event of a power failure. The latter feature would only be useful if the phone being used does not require independent power.

The same provider for broadband

Though users are not required to pick the same provider for broadband and voice products over the network, NBN Co does not offer a specific wholesale product for access to the UNI-V port.

Instead, a service provider purchasing access to just the UNI-V port would be required to purchase the basic $24, 12 Mbps/1 Mbps service and an additional $10 product connectivity charge to provide the minimum bandwidth required for VoIP services.

"It is awkward to try and do a phone-only service - theoretically you could bring it in at $30 nevertheless you'd be losing money until the volumes get there."