Government declares $57billion NBN fully built and operational – but 35,000 homes aren’t connected and 250,000 are stuck with internet that only works at a snail’s pace
- Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has called NBN ‘built and operational’
- 250,000 homes have crawling internet speeds and 35,000 aren’t connected
- Mr Fletcher said the network developers will continue to improve the product
- The declaration is the first step in allowing government to privatise the network
Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has called the National Broadband Network ‘built and operational’ despite 35,000 households waiting for a connection.
Despite thousands of unconnected homes, Mr Fletcher said the government’s $57billion project is in good stead to improve the service to existing customers.
Mr Fletcher said the number of homes who aren’t on the network has dropped dramatically in the last quarter, leaving him confident of the success of the network into the future.
‘In my view the evidence before me shows it is appropriate to make the declaration that the NBN should be treated as built and fully operational,’ he said, as reported by Sydney Morning Herald.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher (pictured) has called the NBN ‘built and operational’
‘Of course the government recognises that there are some premises which have not yet been made ready to connect, and I expect NBN Co to work as speedily as possible to make the network available to those premises.’
The ‘operational’ declaration is significant as it is the first of four steps that would allow the government-owned network to become privatised.
The next steps will be to have the sale be subject to a Productivity Commission inquiry, be analysed by a Parliamentary joint committee, and then signed off by the Finance Minister.
Mr Fletcher said the government is not looking to privatise the NBN in the current term of Parliament and developers will continue to improve the product.
The success of the NBN is varied, as about 250,000 Australians are unable to reach crawling speeds of 25mbps on the network.
High demands for data over the coronavirus lockdown period has ensured a $4.5miilion upgrade for the network by 2023.
Around six million homes using old-fashioned copper connections will also be upgraded to fibre connections to improve the service.
‘The demand-driven nature of the upgrades provides more flexibility for NBN Co to make best use of its workforce and complete the upgrades over the next three years,’ Mr Fltcher said.
Mr Fletcher said the network developers will continue to improve the product as about 250,000 homes have crawling internet speeds and 35,000 aren’t connected
Telecommunications companies have expressed dismay at the NBN due to their high cost and the difficult process of connecting their customers to the network.
The government have acknowledged this and are looking to prioritise streamlining the service with retail service providers in to future.
The federal government previously announced in June that the build process of the network was finished when 100,000 homes were yet to be connected.
More than 11 million homes are now able to use the network.
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