Early NBN roll-out locations unveiled

James Riley
Thursday, 08 July 2010 16:15

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

With an election looming and its fate to be decided by the outcome, the NBN Company has unveiled 14 new mainland locations for early construction of fibre to the home networking infrastructure, and extension to five existing NBN sites.

NBN Company chief executive Mike Quigley said the new sites included locations in all states and territories, except Tasmania, which is already advanced in a separate roll-out timetable.

Called second release sites, each location will see the national broadband network rolled past about 3,000 homes, although further discussions with local councils will determine precise plans.

The locations include Bacchus Marsh and South Morang in Victoria; Queensland's Springfield Lakes and Toowoomba, as well as Brisbane's inner north; Riverstone and Coffs Harbour in New South Wales; Modbury and Prospect in South Australia; as well as Casuarina in the Northern Territory and Gungahlin in the ACT.

The five existing locations getting additional roll-outs are Kiama Downs and Armidale in NSW, Townsville, Brunswick in Melbourne and Willunga in South Australia.

"We have selected these second sites to build upon the work we are doing in the first release sites and to progress the rollout in areas of future network growth," Quigley said.

"These sites have been selected based on a range of criteria including engineering and construction requirements, network design and the level of existing broadband infrastructure. The engagement of local government and the receptiveness of communities to broadband initiatives were also factors taken into consideration," he said.

Communications Minister Stephan Conroy said that as the build-phase of the network accelerated, the NBN Co's community and council consultation on local issues were being stepped up.

The announcement was a milestone for the year-old NBN Company, Senator Conroy said, and showed "momentum is now clearly building on this project."