Residents in the Northern Sydney suburb of Brookvale, Jamie Titherly and his partner Chelsea Paddy, said they have been without home internet access for more than two years, despite trying to sign up with numerous providers.

They said Optus, TPG, Telstra and iiNet all told them to simply wait for the NBN.

Costly efforts

The couple have had to resort to mobile broadband via Virgin Mobile.

"The portable modem is crap when trying to use it for business purposes, the connection drops out," Ms Paddy said.

Ms Paddy and Mr Titherly say Optus, TPG, Telstra and iiNet all told them to simply wait for the NBN ... despite it still being years away. Michele Mossop

"12GB a month barely allows for casual browsing for $40 plus $10 for every GB over the 12GB allowance."

Their neighbour, Amy Worrall, a social media manager for the Australian division of a global company has spent up to $500 trying to get internet connected, with Dodo, TPG and Telstra but has nonetheless been without it for seven months.


She said the internet service providers required her to pay a connection fee, line rental and the first month's bill up front, before guaranteeing the service could be connected.

Even though Telstra ended up being unable to supply Ms Worrall with internet, they then tried to charge her $100 to disconnect it, and refused to refund her money until she threatened legal action.

The couple have had to resort to unreliable mobile broadband. Michele Mossop

"It was absolutely shocking. Appalling. Every person I spoke to lied to cover up for the person before. I must have called six or seven times," she said

"Our lease is going up come November and I'm seriously debating moving somewhere else but I'm worried I'll have the same problem again."

Nationwide problem

Elsewhere in Australia, founder of the Australian Writers' Centre, Valerie Khoo said she was forced to move out of her Victorian town of Healesville because the internet availability was so poor.

"You could not get internet to your home or business until someone died or cancelled their subscription because all the lines were full at the exchange," she said.


Exchanges around the country are full to bursting point as telecommunications firms refuse to upgrade ahead of the NBN rollout.

Now living in Avalon on Sydney's northern beaches, Khoo said the "the situation went from bad to worse".

"Last week, it took me 11 hours to upload a mere 11 minutes of video," she said, "That's just not viable ... I run a national business so it's important to be connected to reliable internet."

Director at south Melbourne-based tech business The e-Learning Portal Adam Menary, said his network of remote employees had frequently come up against internet access problems due to the shortage of available ports in local exchanges.

"An IT business like mine that employs 10 people distributed around the outskirts of Melbourne … we are really struggling," he said.

"I managed to get on a service for business and they dedicated some ports for people close in town. I'm only a few hundred meters from the exchange but when there is high demand things go slow".

NBN progress

A spokesperson for NBN said it would be about 12 months before the NBN would be completed in the areas highlighted.


"The NBN fixed line build is well progressed in this part of Victoria, with about 8000 premises in Healesville and Warburton expected to be able to access a service later this year," the spokesperson said.

"Areas of Mona Vale and Brookvale are expected to commence construction in 2016, as per the three-year plan. Construction typically takes 12 months to complete."

Asked about charges levied against Ms Worrall, a spokesperson for Telstra said no activation or plan fee should be charged until after additional checks have been completed.

"In some cases unfortunately this hasn't happened and we apologise," they said.

Telstra conceded some Australian residents were being left without services, but said it was offering alternatives to most.

"We are continually working to improve ADSL​ connectivity for our customers and we also offer wireless alternatives," a spokesperson said.

"We have introduced Home Wireless Broadband plans designed for households that don't have fixed broadband but still want to connect multiple devices to the internet at home with fast speeds."

TPG, Dodo and iiNet​ did not respond to requests for comment.