Incorporating Point of Interconnect within the Australian National Broadband Network

The number of Point Of Interconnects (PoI) is a critical factor in the proposed Australian National Broadband Network (NBN) because there is a relationship to the Capital and Operational Expenditure. Initially a centralized model with 14 P0Is in 7 major cities was proposed and after a critical evaluation of the mode the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposed a decentralized option with more than 200 PoI. The two models are still being debated by the many stakeholders such as the Federal Government, service providers, backhaul access providers and the general public through the media. One of the NBN objectives is to promote innovative value added services to customers through enhanced competition amongst all service providers. The problem is to find the optimal number of PoI and their locations whilst minimizing cost and maintaining objectives. An analysis is provided in this paper of two potential traffic aggregation techniques: centralized and decentralized PoI models. A proof of concept model used to compare the two models is presented. Video streaming, Voice over Internet Protocol and File Transfer Protocol applications are used as broadband traffic and Weighted Fair Queuing was taken as the quality of service scheme.