Local News
Countdown on for NBN NBN is coming in March and most of us are looking forward to a superfast broadband internet speed. However, will it be the magic answer to recent slow speeds experienced by many residents, no matter what cabling they’ve got underground? NBN Corporate Affairs spokesperson Kylie Lindsay said most of Peregian Springs is due to be connected to NBN on March 4. However, certain areas of Pavilions already have NBN and others such as some parts of Ridges already have fibre in Telstra Velocity and won’t be getting NBN at all. The NBN connection map (pictured) goes some way to explain what areas are getting NBN, what areas already have it and what areas won’t be getting it. The dark and light brown show what areas are about to be switched on, the purple areas show where NBN is already and the light blue area, in the original Ridges, shows the area has an “other fibre provider”. “The light blue area is an area that is considered to be adequately served already by a fibre provider, in this instance Telstra Velocity. In these cases, nbn will not overbuild our network, “ NBN Co’s Ms Lindsay said. Ms Lindsay pointed PSN to the federal government’s “adequately served” policy. The policy is aimed at reducing doubling up on building fibre infrastructure in areas deemed to be already “adequately served” by existing fibre. The Australian Department of Communication and the Arts website
NBN Co map of Peregian Springs. Brown area: Build Commenced. Purple area: Service Available. Light Blue: Other fibre provider. http://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-thenbn/rollout-map.html
explains that where high speed broadband exists the federal minister has granted these networks “adequately served” status. The site says “The Australian Government has decided that nbn should not build another fibre network over the top of any existing adequately served networks in residential areas. The only exception will be if it's too expensive or too hard to go around or past an existing network rather than just build over it.” Ridges resident Peter Harris, contacted Peregian Springs News and said Velocity speeds have been slow in the last 12 months especially over the December/January holiday period. CONTINUED, PAGE 4
Peregian Springs News, February 2017
3