The NBN will begin construction in areas covering an additional 3,400 premises in the Gulgong and Wellington areas in coming months as the company expands its multi-technology mix rollout.
The company is expanding the rollout of its fibre to the node network, with an additional 168,000 premises due to start construction nationwide between July and September 2015.
The suburbs included in the expanded rollout include 3,400 premises in the towns of Wellington, Gulgong and Montefiores.
Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, said the rollout is a sign that the Coalition is delivering on its election pledge to deliver the NBN sooner, at less cost to taxpayers and more affordably for consumers.
“Under Labor, the experience from residents was one of frustration. They were told the NBN would revolutionise connectivity and offer a new range of online services and applications, yet very little construction actually proceeded throughout the electorate,” Mr Coulton said.
Early end-user pilots on the NBN’s fibre to the node network in New South Wales have delivered average speeds of 91 megabits per second download and 36 megabits per second upload.
Those speeds would enable premises to stream up to 18 high definition Netflix streams simultaneously, or other bandwidth intensive applications such as online learning and telehealth consultations.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the new approach to the NBN project has allowed it to rollout the network at a faster rate than ever.
On average the NBN was expanding to reach an additional 12,300 premises a week in the first quarter of 2015.
“The great thing about the NBN’s new approach is that we will see the benefits of broadband much sooner and services will be much more affordable avoiding the 80 per cent price hikes that were foreshadowed under Labor’s project,” Mr Turnbull said.
The reach of the NBN’s fixed line network has increased from 258,000 premises to 773,000 premises since the September 2013 election.
The fixed wireless network has increased its reach from 39,000 premises to 206,000 premises since the election. It is anticipated that connections will be available to the NBN’s next generation satellites in the second quarter of 2016.
