Netcomm (ASX:NTC) has won the key supplier award for customer care at the 2018 nbn Supplier Summit for development of its user-friendly Network Connection Device (NCD).
The “We Care” award, recognizes the supplier that has shown the most care in delighting nbn’s customers and making the nation a better place.
NetComm’s NCD is a key element in nbn’s Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) network. The NCD provides power to the Distribution Point Unit (DPU) in the pit and connectivity in the home. Providing fibre-like speeds, it can be self-installed by the end-user, avoiding expensive truck rolls and speeding up activations.
The NCD was conceived, designed, developed and manufactured in only five months. “This was a world-first product, combining Gfast and Reverse-Power technologies. The product was designed and made available to nbn in five months, which is ‘light-speed’ in product development terms,” said Ken Sheridan, CEO & Managing Director at NetComm.
NetComm focussed on producing a product that was highly effective from a technical perspective but also provided a more positive in-home customer experience. This resulted in a product now being deployed with a very high self-installation success rate.
The NCD incorporates a Gfast and VDSL modem, delivering fibre-like broadband speeds to customers over a short run of copper via an Ethernet connection for WiFi routers, computers and other devices.
As the DPU needs power to function, a new approach was needed to overcome the cost of running a powerline to individual units: The NCD has a Reverse Power Feed capability that allows the DPU to be powered from the customer’s premise.
The device can be self-installed by the consumer inside the customer premises. It is an intelligent device allowing critically important monitoring and diagnostics reporting on the actual line performance delivered in the home.
“The award confirms that there are many facets to be considered when developing a solution that meets the technical and logistic needs of a customer and is also able to be used by end-users. By working closely together with the customer and understanding the operational challenges, NetComm develops solutions that consider the complete deployment process. The end-to-end solution, including both the DPU and NCD, will allow nbn to efficiently roll-out its FTTC network and other operators around the world are showing great interest in using this solution to offer fibre-like speeds to more end-users.
Being an Australian based company, supporting the nbn in its task to build a ubiquitous network, is something we care deeply about.
But this award is not only about our work with nbn. It’s a recognition that the best solutions are developed by working closely together with our customers and listening to their specific needs and challenges. This Listen. Innovate. Solve. Methodology is the core of how we operate and is welcomed by many operators around the world.”
NetComm is currently in conversations with other telecommunications operators around the world, aiming to execute similar joint developments to solve their broadband deployment challenges.
