Meeting the people behind the nbn™ network: Jacob
The nbn™ network is one of Australia’s biggest telecommunications infrastructure endeavours, seeking to make high speed internet accessible to homes and businesses across an entire continent.
Our country covers approximately 7.6 million square kilometres of incredibly diverse land. From tropical jungles to icy mountains, rugged coastlines to blistering deserts, we have it all. Not to mention a landscape populated by some of the most dangerous wildlife on Earth.
The nbn™ network is unique for many reasons, but one of the more notable is that it is comprised of a Multi Technology Mix. It aligns a number of different types of technology – from Fixed Line to Fixed Wireless to satellite – under the one larger network umbrella.
It takes an incredible amount of effort to build technology on this scale. There are thousands of Australians hard at work every day rolling out the nbn™ network into new areas helping make homes and businesses ready for service. Let’s meet one of them.
Meet Jacob, Field Technician at nbn
As one of nbn’s field technicians, Jacob’s role is to not only implement the installation of the infrastructure, but also manage its upkeep.
“Generally, we are assigned work through our system,” Jacob revealed about his preparation the night before a big day in the field. “That night I will arrange a time to meet a colleague at the work site in the morning, and from there we will tackle the job.”
Heading out to jobs in the field with other nbn staff is always welcomed. Working together as a team not only provides comradery, but helps with the problem-solving challenges that are presented by such a variation in work sites. “I can always turn to my teammates if I have any queries regarding certain jobs,” Jacob explains.
However, Jacob must often adapt to a number of different tasks as they are assigned. “Jobs can range from simply making sure the equipment is working,” Jacob details, “to upgrading the network’s capacity to help facilitate new end users. We also do testing on new rollout technology and attend any network issues.”
This is a role that Jacob enjoys. He doesn’t fumble his words when discussing what working for nbn means to him. “It means representing a company that is involved in one of the largest infrastructure projects in Australia, which will really benefit us now and into the future in an ever evolving and expanding country.”