Sensational-Adelaide.com

OPPOSITION Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey says the extent of the Coalition's rollback of the national broadband network would depend on when the next election is called.

The Coalition says the NBN - which was switched on at the first Australian mainland test site at Armidale in northern New South Wales today - should be scrapped and instead replaced with a cheaper network using a variety of technologies.

Mr Hockey told the National Press Club in Canberra the Coalition remained committed to scrapping the NBN.

"When Julia Gillard pressed the button to launch the mainland rollout of the NBN I thought there goes $18 billion," he said.

"From our perspective it does depend on the timing of the election because only then will we know whether contracts have been signed, the form of the contracts and all the costs of unwinding those contracts."


Mr Hockey said it appeared that tenders were failing and prices were not meeting expectations of NBN Co.

"It is clear that what the Government expects of the NBN in the rollout is not going to be matched by the actual rollout," he said.

WILLUNGA residents will be hooked up to the National Broadband Network within weeks.

Fewer than 10 Willunga residents and businesses are expected to be NBN guinea pigs from early June.

They are current customers of service providers who will switch them on to the 100 megabyte per second service at no extra cost.

About 100 Willunga customers would join the network by September after which commercial broadband packages, at speeds five times faster than ADSL2, would be offered to new customers, NBN Co said.

South Australian IT entrepreneur Raaj Menon was excited about connecting to the NBN. He purchased a house in Willunga in February to be one of the first in the state to be connected to super-fast broadband.

"When I bought the house I made sure I saw the NBN cables," Mr Menon, managing director of IT equipment supplier PC Range, said. "This NBN is very exciting. It's the future . . . I think house prices will appreciate because of the NBN."

Waewick wrote:how will house prices apprecaite from the NBN?

if everyone has it then it has a nil effect? why does everything have to do with the freaking house prices.

rev wrote:Anyone seen the prices for plans Internode are offering?
http://www.internode.on.net/residential ... s/#ShowAlt

New South Australian sites for National Broadband Network rollout
From: AAP October 18, 2011 11:28AM

CONSTRUCTION work is about to begin on the infrastructure for the next stage of the rollout of the high-speed national broadband network (NBN).

The company undertaking the work for the federal government, NBN Co, released a 12-month plan today, listing the 28 new locations in each state and territory where construction of the fibre optic network will start between now and September 2012.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the NBN will provide benefits for regions such as the Illawarra in NSW, which has been been hit hard by job losses at BlueScope's steelworks.

"The NBN will play a big role in that economic future," Ms Gillard said in Wollongong.

"It will bring new productivity to businesses and it will enable the creation of new businesses - businesses that need the connectivity that this national broadband network will bring."

There will also be benefits for universities, Ms Gillard said.

On average, it's expected to take 12 months from the start of the fibre network rollout in a particular area until consumers are able to receive high-speed broadband over the NBN.

NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley said the plan marks the start of a major construction effort that should eventually see the company offering NBN coverage to every one of Australia's 13 million premises.

"We'll be publishing regular updates about where precisely the NBN is being rolled out and when it will reach each area," he said in a statement.

The updates will be issued every three months.

In early 2012, NBN CO will also release a three-year indicative view of the rollout, to be updated annually until its expected completion in 10 years time.

NBN Co said that as the network progresses, householders and business will be able to buy broadband and telephony packages from up to 28 signed-up retail telecommunications providers.

The company also has plans to launch a public education campaign next year to explain how to connect to the network.

The network has so far been rolled out and activated in areas passing 18,200 premises, including three sites in Tasmania and five mainland sites.

Areas where the network rollout work is already underway will account for another 63,500 premises.

By September next year construction work will have commenced on sites passing 485,100 premises.

Most of the expected new sites where the latest round construction work will take place are in NSW, including Blacktown, Dapto, Gosford, Lidcome, Long Jetty, Penrith, Richmond, Sawtell and Wollongong.

In Victoria, the new sites are Ballarat Central, Melbourne City, Melton and Tullarmarine.

In Western Australia, work will occur in Applecross, Meadow Springs, Pinjarra and South Perth, while in South Australia it will be Aldinga Beach, Port Augusta, Port Elliot, Stirling, Strathalbyn and Yankalilla.

Tasmania will get two extra sites, Launceston and Somerset, while the NT will see Darwin on the map.

The other locations are Nudgee in Queensland and Gungahlin in ACT.

The $36 billion NBN project is due to be completed in 2021.

rhino wrote:So, by September next year, construction work would have commenced on sites passing 485,100 properties out of 13,000,000 properties. So, only 12,514,900 properties left to have construction commence on a site that passes them. We're 3.73% through with construction commencing.

Wow. Just wow.

[Shuz] wrote:I think they're starting with the smaller communities because it was part of a deal by Gillard and one of the independents in order to form minority government that they give priority to regional areas first.