Since July last year, work has been underway on the first mainland NBN locations spread across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
However with the first five mainland NBN sites nearing completion, NBN Co have today revealed work will begin on the first of 14 second release sites '” most of which are situated near the first release locations '” later this month.
Work will start in Armidale and Coffs Harbour, New South Wales before the end of the month, before progressing to Townsville in Queensland and the New South Wales suburbs of Jamberoo and Kiama during September.
Toowoomba, Queensland and Gungahalin, Australian Capital Territory, will follow in October, while work in Riverstone, New South Wales and the Goodna and Springfield area in Queensland will start sometime in November.
Work will only begin in just one suburb in December, namely Aspley, which is situated in metropolitan Brisbane.
NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley says amongst other factors, the signing of the Definitive Agreement regarding long-term infrastructure leasing arrangements with Telstra last month has allowed the organisation to move forward and begin planning the second stage sites.
The signing of a new construction deal last month with Silcar covering New South Wales, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory has also allowed the group to begin planning for work in the three states and is the reason why Victorian and Northern Territory sites aren't included in the time schedule.
'The signing of the Definitive Agreement with Telstra'¦ together with the finalisation of the construction contract with Silcar, has allowed us to finalise the proposed schedule for the next round of construction in mainland Australia,' Quigley said in a statement.
'The plan is to continue the rollout by extending from the places where we have started in the First and Second Release sites, as well as add other sites as planning progresses.'
NBN Co estimates suggest it'll take around 12 months to go from the start of construction to connecting the first customers at each of the second release sites.
Also according to Quigley, NBN Co will 'in the near future' release a roadmap detailing the roll-out schedule for the next 12 months including the addition of a number of new sites.
'The use of Telstra's infrastructure, where it is available, should reduce the amount of disruption for the community and provide a smoother and more efficient rollout,' he said.
Negotiations are continuing for construction companies in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
