By Jesse Graham
WARBURTON residents are being left with questions and complaints – and snail’s pace internet speeds – after the recent National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout in town.
Works to connect properties to the NBN as part of the nationwide rollout recently completed in Warburton, but residents like Lindy Schneider have said the works are done, but many are unable to connect.
Ms Schneider said she registered her interest at a pop-up NBN Telstra store in town, and was told after eight weeks that she would not be able to connect the service.
“If I look at the street numbers on my street, we can’t (connect) – a block of land across the road can,” she said.
While posts in Facebook group Upper Yarra Community Trading Post featured many comments from residents who were able to connect and improve their speeds, there were also numerous complaints from people either unable to be connected or experiencing slow speeds or drop-outs in service.
Ms Schneider said that one of the stores in Warburton’s main street was one of the properties unable to connect, despite the shops around them having the service.
She said there was speculation that NBNco had a policy of “no more dig” – that if the works were done, technicians would not carry out further works – but said it was hearsay and that there had been a lack of communication.
“This is all hearsay, which is the big challenge,” she said.
“There’s been no clear communication, generally, to households about this – we just get told to register on websites and we’ll be told when it’s available.
“Who knows if that’s 18 months, or three years, or what the story is?”
The area from Yarra Junction to Warburton is marked on the NBN Network Rollout Map as having “service available”, with building works commenced in Woori Yallock, Healesville, Badger Creek and Yarra Glen.
Ms Schneider said her family had been testing their current internet speeds – 1.5 megabits per second was one of the higher results.
Australia’s average internet speeds in the last quarter of 2015 was 8.2Mbps.
“For me, personally, in my household we were really, really looking forward to it and relying on it,” Ms Schneider said.
“I feel very let down myself and many other people are being denied the service.”
NBNco’s Victorian manager of Corporate Affairs Michael Moore said the rollout was affected by a number of factors, including current service and broadband infrastructure, growth forecasts “and proximity to NBN infrastructure such as the transit network”.
“While NBN would like to connect everyone at the same time, we are constrained by these economic and physical resources,” he said.
“Ultimately though, no one will miss out on access to fast internet, and the overall aim is to get the rollout completed as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
“NBN is using a range of technologies to make fast broadband available to all Australians by 2020.”
When asked about the speculation of a “no more dig” policy, Mr Moore said the idea “does not make sense”.
“The fibre-to-the-node fixed line service actually uses existing copper phone lines, which are underground,” he said.
Mr Moore said anyone having connection issues or problems should contact their phone or internet company, who would then work with NBNco.
“When you are connecting thousands of homes and businesses every week, there will inevitably be issues with some individual premises along the way,” he said.
“However, NBN continues to work hard to eliminate these issues and improve the connection experience.
“At this stage, there are no plans to change the rollout approach for the area.”
