What you didn't know about the NBN.

What you didn't know about the NBN.

IT WAS designed to give Australians a solid idea about when they could take advantage of the National Broadband Network.

But, NBN’s new online rollout tool has actually sparked anger across the nation as future customers vent.

The site, which was launched yesterday, breaks down into a three- or six-month window when Australians can expect to be able to access the NBN at their address.

It sounds like a helpful tool but, for many, the tool has underlined just how long a delay they are facing before they can get hooked up.

@warriorfactor @mattydunn11 @newscomauHQ Ahhh..2017 wasnt the yr of getting NBN, it was the yr of getting the NBN availability website. — AlliedGwaiLou (@AlliedGwaiLou) February 27, 2017

Adelaide resident Kevin Cameron said the tool was worthless.

“The whole crux of what the CEO is spruiking is you will have a time frame you could have the NBN connected before 2020,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s all smoke and mirrors. There is nothing to hold the NBN to those time frames and it’s likely the dates will be pushed back like they have been already.”

While admitting to being grateful he will be connected by mid-next year, the Norwood-based resident is shocked he doesn’t already have the service.

Mr Cameron questioned why his inner-city suburb — which the REA Group Property Demand Index listed as the nation’s fifth most desired area for housing — wouldn’t receive the NBN sooner.

“I am a bit disgusted that there is no NBN in my suburb. It feels like they are going out of their way to connect the lower socio-economic areas, which makes no sense given they will not be spending the money the NBN needs to be profitable,” he said.

“If somewhere doesn’t have ADSL 2+ then they should absolutely be prioritised, but with the sheer amount of money being spent on this project you need to start seeing returns — ie money injected back into it.”

Mr Cameron said he didn’t want to come across as an “elitist wanker”, but believed it made sense to focus the NBN rollout on suburbs with residents likely to pay a premium for fast internet.

“If you focus on the wrong areas, what you get is a self-fulfilling prophecy of people talking about the NBN being a failure because customers are only going for the slowest speed plans — simply because their budgets don’t allow anything else,” he said.

“I use my internet for a lot of streaming and, given the chance, I would happily pay for the highest internet speed because my income allows me to do so.”

A spokesman from NBN Co said it has a focus on rolling out to areas with under-served broadband first.

“Where possible, NBN looks to upgrade existing technologies in order to roll the network out as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said.

“This may mean that sometimes we prioritise building the network to one part of a region before installing new infrastructure in another part of that area.”

Gold Coast resident Grant Bell also questions the logic behind the NBN rollout.



“My cousin who lives in Emerald [in rural Queensland] has access to the NBN already and has done for a while. His internet speeds are insane,” he told news.com.au.

“Meanwhile, I’m in Australia’s sixth largest city — and one of the fastest growing — and hardly anyone here has access to it.”

Mr Bell is frustrated that his suburb of Robina doesn’t have NBN, while neighbouring Clear Island Waters and Mermaid Waters were connected.

“We were supposed to be getting it ‘mid-2016’ — this is back in 2015. Then when 2016 came around, it was pushed back to the beginning of 2017. Then it was pushed back to the end of 2017. Now it’s been pushed back again to the end of 2018,” he said.

“I’ve got nothing against the government installing a national broadband network, but considering how much money we’re spending on it, I feel as though it should not only be happening faster but we should be more informed about it.”

The NBN says it is on track to connect 9 million homes to the service by June 2018, with a goal of completing the network by 2020.

NBN chief executive Bill Morrow said last month the NBN was hoping to offer a positive experience for customers as it accelerated the build and connection rates to new records.

“We have developed strong foundations, processes and systems, and this year we will be opening up the NBN network to new regions, including many metro areas for the first time,” he said.

Mr Morrow said while it seemed logical to offer to network to higher density metro-areas, the limited access to pits and existing infrastructure made the process more difficult.

“As the NBN network rolls out into cities we will be met with new problems to solve,” he said.

“We understand there will be some disruption for residents and business owners as the 14,000 people working across NBN and our delivery partners complete the task as soon as possible.”

The NBN spokesman added the rollout is decided area-by-area based on the best solution for the location.

“To date, the rollout has been largely focused on regional Australia with 70 per cent of that build now complete. In 2017, we are focusing on ramping up the network build in metro areas such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,” he said.

“There is a small percentage of areas where we are still working out the detail of the rollout and therefore these homes and businesses will not yet have a service available date on our website. “The majority of these homes and businesses are currently scheduled for service availability in the back half of 2020.”

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