The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has announced telcos and internet service providers are now able to sign up to use its new Multicast feature.

 

NBN Co says the new feature represents a significant upgrade to the fibre optic network that will enable customers to access ever higher quality video content.

 

The company has also announced it expects the service to be significantly more efficient and cost-effective in the delivery of IPTV content compared with the traditional Unicast method of content delivery that is commonly used today.

 

The feature is designed so that ISPs can broadcast IPTV channels into one or more of the NBN Co’s 121 points of interconnect (POI), each of which serves around 150,000 premises.

 

Using the feature, video streams can then be replicated to potentially thousands of views over the POI, which the NBN Co says will provide significant savings on backhaul costs and create significant network savings and efficiency gains.

 

Jim Hassell, Head of Product Development and Sales for NBN Co, said the Multicast feature offers ISPs an opportunity to provide an interactive and participative viewing experience for their customers.

 

"For ISPs, Multicast opens the door to more 'triple-play' bundles of a home phone, high speed internet and high definition television.

 

"It could also have significant effects on the way viewers consume content. The fibre optic NBN is designed to be capable of supporting '4K' or 'ultra high definition television' channels that consume much more bandwidth than many existing networks can support.

 

The NBN Co has said it expects the feature to be used for purposes beyond broadcast IPTV in the future, and will deliver efficiencies through the entire network, especially for those wanting to distribute a single piece of data to many end users.

 

More information about the NBN Multicast feature is available at: www.nbnco.com.au/multicast