More than 1.3 million premises added to NBN construction timetable

The company building the National Broadband Network today unveiled the names of the communities across Australia that are next in line to receive high-speed fibre optic broadband.

More than 1.35 million premises have been added to the rollout in the updated three-year plan. The plan adds almost 190 new towns and groups of suburbs, as well as more homes and businesses in areas covered by the previous plan.

This brings to 4.85 million the number of premises that will have construction commenced or where services can be ordered by June 2016.

NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley said: "We're getting on with the job of rolling out the NBN in every state and territory. Our plan is to deliver better broadband to every Australian over the remaining 8 years of this 10-year build."

A growing number of Australians are already beginning to experience the benefits of high speed broadband.

In areas where the fibre network has been up and running for more than 12 months, around a third of eligible families have already purchased an NBN package.

"Furthermore, a third of people with an NBN fibre connection have subscribed to the fastest speeds available. And households in the NBN fibre footprint are downloading around 50% more data than the average Australian broadband user every month^."

"The NBN enables the whole family to go online without the internet slowing down. People can work from home as if they are in the office and make video calls to family and friends reliably*," Mr. Quigley said.

"What's more, the price of NBN packages is competitive, and NBN Co has made an ongoing commitment to reduce the wholesale cost of broadband in real terms."

According to a recent study of the first release site in Brunswick, Melbourne, nearly half of existing NBN users polled said household internet costs were roughly the same since switching to the NBN, and 14% were paying less by using an internet phone service instead of a separate land line. Generally, those paying more were willing to do so to get higher speeds or larger download allowances[i].

The new locations were announced today at an event in Blacktown NSW to mark the connection of the first area of metropolitan Sydney to the NBN.

 

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Press Office    0421184491 Media@nbnco.com.au

Andrew Sholl Mobile: 0448 805 806 andrewsholl@nbnco.com.au

Rhonda Griffin  Mobile: 0428 134 40 rhondagriffin@nbnco.com.au

 

Notes to Editors

For more detailed information about the rollout footprint visit www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it/index.html. Areas shaded in green signify those places planned for construction up to June 2016. Click on the pin-drop for indicative timings.

• The rollout of the NBN follows a series of design principles that aim to deliver a high-speed broadband network in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

• These principles include first extending the network in areas where work has already begun; balancing construction across states and territories and between metropolitan and regional locations; and making use of available exchange and transit infrastructure as it becomes available.

• NBN Co does not charge consumers for a standard installation of the NBN to a home or business. Consumers should speak to their service provider to see if they have any other charges such as set up or activation fees. All Australian homes and businesses within the fibre footprint will need to access voice and internet services over the NBN as the copper telephone lines and cable telecommunications networks are progressively switched off^.

• NBN Co is rolling out the fibre network in a series of modules each of which passes around 2000-3000 premises. NBN Co will generally continue construction of new modules adjacent to existing construction locations until the entire fibre footprint in an area has been completed.

 

* End user experience including the speeds actually achieved over the NBN depends on some factors outside our control like equipment quality, software, broadband plans and how their service provider designs its network.

^ NBN download and upload usage based on sample analysis of actual daily network throughput representing the majority of NBN's end-users for the month of January 2013. Australian average download usage based on ABS average fixed broadband downloads/subscriber/month for the December 2012 quarter.

ⁱ   Researchers at the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University of Technology studied internet users in one of the first suburbs to be connected to the NBN - Melbourne's Brunswick, where residents were able to adopt the service from late 2011. The study, sponsored by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), looked at how and where people used the NBN, how much they paid, and their attitudes towards the network. See full report: http://accan.org.au/files/Broadbanding_Brunswick.pdf

 

New areas added to the three-year plan to June 2016

NSW

Albion Park	Bankstown	Barham-Koondrook	Batemans Bay	Batlow
Bawley Point	Bellingen	Belmont	Bermagui	Berowra
Berridale	Bombala	Bondi	Branxton-Greta	Bulahdelah
Canowindra	Cessnock-Bellbird	Clarence Town	Como	Cooma
Coraki	Culcairn	Deniliquin	Dorrigo	Dungog
Edensor Park	Evans Head	Finley	Frenchs Forest	Gilgandra
Gunnedah	Hornsby	Howlong	Jindabyne	Kellyville
Kempsey	Kooringal	Macksville	Maclean	Manilla
Mona Vale	Moruya	Moss Vale	Murrurundi	Murwillumbah
Narooma	North Parramatta	Petersham	Quirindi	Ramsgate
Raymond Terrace	Shoalhaven Heads	Singleton	South West Rocks	Sydney Springwood
Tocumwal	Tumbarumba	Tumut	Tuross Heads	Ulladulla
Uralla	Urunga	Walcha	Williamtown	Woodburn
Yamba

Queensland

Agnes Water	Airlie Beach	Albany Creek	Ayr	Babinda
Bells Bridge	Booral	Bowen	Boyne Island	Burleigh Heads
Burrum Heads	Cardwell	Childers	Collinsville	Cooktown
Coorparoo	Crows Nest	Gympie	Herberton	Highfields
Howard	Innisfail	Lammermoor	Landsborough	Malanda
Maleny	Maryborough	Mission Beach	Mossman	Murgon
Oakey	Proserpine	Rainbow Beach	Ravenshoe	Redland Bay
Sherwood	Sunshine Coast Caloundra	Sunshine Coast Noosa	Tin Can Bay	Toorbul
Toowong	Tully	Wondai	Wonga Beach	Woodford
Woodgate

Victoria

Anglesea	Ballan	Beaufort	Beechworth	Castlemaine
Chiltern	Clunes	Coburg	Craigieburn	Daylesford
Dimboola	Elmore	Garfield	Glen Iris	Heathcote
Heidelberg	Heyfield	Kooyong	Kyneton	Lang Lang
Maldon	Mirboo North	Moreland	Nathalia	Newport
North Melb	Numurkah	Oakleigh	Point Cook	Portarlington
Romsey	Rushworth	Rye	Shoreham	Sunbury
Tallangatta	Thomastown	Trentham	Warburton	Winchelsea
Woori Yallock

South Australia

Barmera	Beachport	Berri	Brighton	Ceduna
Glenunga	Lyndoch	Millicent	Minlaton	Mount Gambier
Naracoorte	Penola	Port Lincoln	Renmark	Robe
Salisbury	Stansbury	Tumby Bay	Waikerie	Yorketown

Western Australia

Augusta	Broome	Cowaramup	Derby	Dunsborough
Ellenbrook	Esperance	Glenfield	Jandakot South	Margaret River
Norseman	Quinns Rocks	Spearwood	Wickham	York

No new areas are added for the NT or Tas as they are due to have works complete by the end of 2015.

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