As it is a fixed wireless network, the National Broadband Network (NBN) long-term evolution (LTE) deployment will not suffer the same capacity issues as regular mobile networks, according to NBN Co's chief technology officer Gary McClaren.

Yesterday, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced that the areas surrounding Geraldton, Toowoomba, Ballarat, Darwin and Tamworth would be the first five regional sites to be connected to the NBN through NBN Co's fixed wireless technology, to be deployed together withEricsson.

The first sites are expected to cover around 14,000 premises altogether. While many traditional telcos struggle to cope with the volume of users they have at any one time, McClaren told ZDNet Australia that because NBN Co wireless was a fixed network, usage in areas would be predictable, so capacity was less of an issue.

"Because we don't have a mobile network, we're not having to cope with fluctuations in load and devices moving around the cell, so we're looking to be as precise as we can with the dimension of the network," he said.

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