Upper Mountains residents are set to see the benefit from full-fibre internet as part of the Albanese Labor Government’s commitment to expand access to 1.5 million additional premises, with the first towns ready from next year.
Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman, said this will be welcome news for people in the first areas to be converted from fibre-to-the-node to fibre-to-the-premises in Blackheath, Leura, Wentworth Falls and Katoomba.
“Residents in these towns and villages have been tied to the old copper network, which can never meet the demands of 21st century connectivity,” she said.
“In November 2021, the now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland came to Leura to make the commitment to increase the fibre in the NBN network, to start to fix the mistakes of the Coalition Government’s disastrous NBN rollout.
“We were one of the first areas to receive FTTN, and the problems with connection and service throughout that rollout, and since, demonstrated how inadequate it was.
“Reliable internet is more vital than ever before, families and businesses depend on fast, reliable and consistent connections and the outdated copper network just doesn’t provide that.”
These updates are part of the NBN fibre program which was boosted by the Government’s October 2022 announcement of an additional $2.4 billion investment.
“This Government knows that investment in full-fibre NBN isn’t a luxury but an essential for families and small businesses,” Ms Templeman said.
“In six years we’ve seen NBN data use triple and we don’t expect that growth to slow down. More businesses are operating online, people are working from home, and we’re seeing kids using the internet for education more often too.
“Full-fibre to the premises will deliver them faster upload and download speeds mean more people can be online at the same time without the connection being affected.”
Ms Templeman says households in Blackhealth, Leura, Wentworth Falls, and Katoomba can expect to access full-fibre to the premises from 2024.The remaining locations to be upgraded as part of the Government’s investment in expanding full-fibre access are expected to be announced by early 2024.
