NBN Crisis - The Forgotten Suburb

22 February 2018

The NBN rollout continues to go from bad to worse in the Centenary Suburbs as an ever growing number of people voice their frustrations.

This includes residents of Kauri Pl, Seventeen Mile Rocks who held an NBN Street Meeting with Local Federal Member for Oxley Milton Dick MP last night to discuss their ongoing NBN woes.

With many surrounding homes having access to the NBN, residents of Kauri Pl and other close by streets are stuck in an NBN ‘black hole’ with no available connection.

Mr Dick said this was a common story for many residents who had been promised so much by the NBN only to be let down.

“It’s clear to see that these residents have simply been forgotten by NBN Co.” said Mr Dick.

“After first being promised by Malcolm Turnbull that all residents would have access to the NBN by the end of 2016, it is just unacceptable that this crisis is going from bad to worse.

“I’ll be taking this matter straight to NBN Co. and demanding an immediate resolution to the mess that has plagued residents in Seventeen Mile Rocks.”

As late as December last year, NBN Co. were unable to give a timeframe on when residents would receive a connection.

In an email regarding Kauri Pl resident Eugene Richman, the NBN Co. stated the reason was the length of copper required and were unable to give a timeframe on when this would be addressed.

Unfortunately, in this case the distance of the constituent’s home from the nbn network means we can’t connect the property the same way as we’ve connected others, because of the length of copper. The signal degrades over distance and it wouldn’t be possible to achieve a service that meets the minimum requirements. We’re currently investigating options to deliver an nbn solution for these premises, and although we’re committed to delivering a fast broadband service as soon as possible, we can’t provide a timeframe at this stage.

“This is just another example of the NBN Co. letting down local residents” said Mr Dick.

An NBN Co representative attended the street meeting and gave residents an assurance they would have a connection by August this year.

“Now that a date has been set I will be holding the NBN to account and ensuring that residents are able to access the NBN from August.”