NBN Co, the Commonwealth company established to design, build and operate the National Broadband Network (NBN), has today revealed the first 140 suburbs to be covered by the NBN.
More than 200,000 homes and businesses, in areas including parts of Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in New South Wales and Moreton Bay and Wide Bay Burnett in Queensland, will be serviced thanks to fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) technology being rolled out by NBN Co.
NBN Co says the phase, which is part of a national trial to test the planning, design and construction of the FTTN technology, will see fibre optic cables combined with Telstra copper lines “in a street side node cabinet to deliver fast broadband to homes and businesses.”
“Today’s announcement is a progressive step in our move to a mix of broadband technologies which are designed to help us speed up the NBN rollout across the country,” said NBN Co Chief Customer Officer, John Simon.
“This means more than 200,000 Australian homes and businesses will able to take advantage of fast and reliable broadband sooner than expected, with these areas previously not earmarked to receive the NBN in the coming 12 months.”
NBN Co also announced that residents and businesses in parts of Scottsdale, Smithton and Midway Point are to be among the first areas in the country to transition to the NBN, and are urging residents to place an order for services as soon as possible.
The NBN is scheduled to replace existing landline phone and internet services in these areas from 23 October 2014.
“These homes and businesses were some of the first in the country to connect to the NBN. They are poised to complete the transition from the existing telecommunications infrastructure to the NBN – the first nationwide upgrade of its kind in more than 100 years,” said NBN Co spokesperson Lalla Mackenzie.
“By the time the rollout of the NBN is complete every home, business and community across Australia will have access to fast broadband, enabling us to benefit from an increasingly digital future. “
Maps showing NBN coverage are available at: www.nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map
