The NBN has passed a major milestone today, it has officially passed the half way mark. This is a massive achievement in a project that took a long time to ramp up, its certainly hitting its strides with 1 in 2 Australians now able to connect.
There are now more than 100,000 premises being connected every week, that’s a pretty crazy number, but its that speed that has now achieved the milestone of more than 5.7 million homes and businesses being able to connect.
The company today also highlighted its plans to begin further construction work across suburbs within the capital cities as well as outer metro regions such as Gold Coast, Gladstone, Bendigo, Port Macquarie and Geelong.
nbn’s Chief Executive Officer, Bill Morrow, said:
“I’m proud to announce that one in two Australians are now able to enjoy the benefits of fast broadband by connecting to the nbn network through a retailer. Nationwide access to fast broadband will become the platform to launch Australia into the next phase of its digital future – it will change what our jobs will look like, where we will live and how we fare on a global scale.
We are seeing great demand for fast broadband across the country – there are currently around three in four homes and businesses who have signed-up to services over the nbn network following the 18 month window they are provided to make the switch. Our team will continue to ramp-up the rollout of the network to help meet this demand in the coming months as we start further construction work across the capital cities and outer metro areas.
The rollout of the nbn network is one of the most complex and ambitious initiatives to be undertaken in any market across the world. We’re building a nationwide network that has the ability to deliver wholesale speeds which are currently around eight times faster than the average capacity available on the majority of Australia’s existing broadband services. Our team is on budget and ahead of schedule to connect millions of Australian homes and businesses in the next few years and ask for your patience as we make the transition from the old to the new network.
To ensure Australians get the best possible internet experience, it’s important they understand the role of nbn as the access network connecting their homes and businesses to services provided by retailers. Speeds experienced over the nbn network are influenced by a range of factors such as the technology used to deliver the network as well as equipment quality, broadband plans, signal reception and the age of the smart devices being used to connect to the internet.”
Half way done at half way through 2017, the road to the end of the project in 2020 is now in sight. It’ll be 3/4 complete by mid way through next year.
For more information about when the nbn™ network will be available in your area as well as how to pick a package which suits the needs of your home or business visit the nbn website.