Townsville is Australia's most NBN-ready city

09 August 2013

Superfast broadband now passes 15,000 homes and businesses

50% take-up in Aitkenvale & Mundingburra

Townsville is officially Australia’s most NBN-ready city. Superfast broadband is now available to an area containing 15,000 homes and businesses.

An area covering a further 4000 premises in Pimlico, Hyde Park, Currajong, Vincent and Kirwan is set to come online in the coming months.

At a ceremony this morning, the NBN was switched on for 12,400 premises across the CBD and suburbs including Castle Hill, Pimlico and Currajong down to Gulliver, Heatley and Cranbrook.

That’s in addition to Aitkenvale and Mundingburra where the NBN is already up and running.

It was revealed today that around 50 per cent of homes and businesses in the fibred-up areas there are now connected to the network – a figure that is higher than the national average.

In the areas around Australia where the NBN fibre network has been up and running for more than six months, around 30 per cent of premises passed by the fibre have taken up an NBN service.

“It’s great to see Tropical North Queensland leading the country in innovation,” said NBN Co Community Relations Manager for Queensland Ryan Williams.

“More Townsville families can enjoy a high-speed internet connection with multiple devices connected all at once. They can work from home with ease and make video calls without worrying about constant drop outs.”*

One Townville company already experiencing the benefits of the NBN is National Qualifications Australia, an online workplace training provider.

“We connected to the NBN 12 months ago and our experience has been amazing. Our monthly internet costs have stayed the same, but the connection is incredibly fast and has enabled us to save money elsewhere,” said NQA’s Director Angela Magnan.*

“We’ve been able to shift our whole business to the cloud, reduce our use of paper substantially and offer more training courses online. I’d encourage everyone in active NBN areas to make the switch.”

Across Queensland, construction of the fibre network has commenced for more than 177,500 premises^. In addition, the fibre already passes 39,800 homes and businesses in areas such as Toowoomba, Aspley, Goodna and Townsville, with Cairns and Mackay to switch on soon.

NBN fibre construction is planned to commence or be complete for 934,300 Queensland premises by mid-2016^. The entire NBN rollout is due to be completed by 2021.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Nick Creevey
0415 515 008

Press Office
(02) 9213 2322
media@nbnco.com.au

NOTES TO EDITORS

Eligible Townsville residents can order an NBN service from one of 43 phone and internet service providers http://www.nbnco.com.au/get-an-nbn-connection/certified-service-providers.html
Follow the NBN rollout at http://www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it/rollout-map.html
NBN Co does not charge consumers for a standard installation of NBN equipment in 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 homes and businesses within the fibre footprint will ultimately need to access voice and internet services over the NBN as existing landline phone, ADSL internet and Telstra and Optus cable internet services are progressively switched off. For a list of existing services in fibre-covered areas that are not replaced by the NBN visit www.nbnco.com.au/switch or call on 1800 687 626

* 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.

^ Construction commenced means that NBN Co has issued contract instruction to its construction partners, so they can commence work on the detailed design, field inspections and rodding / roping activities in an area.

NBN ROLLOUT IN TOWNSVILLE & SURROUNDS