SENATOR THE HON DAVID FAWCETT
Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Senator for South Australia
THE HON PAUL FLETCHER MP
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts
Even faster internet in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs
NBN Co Limited (NBN Co) has announced the second tranche of its $4.5 billion network investment plan, with residents and businesses in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs set to be among the next 100,000 premises to benefit from access to ultrafast internet speeds.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said that work on the initial 100,000 premises included in the first tranche is well underway and that NBN Co is now looking towards the next 100,000 premises.
“To deploy these network upgrades, NBN Co will work with its construction and delivery partners to design and construct local fibre networks in Golden Grove and Gepps Cross passing at the street level in areas connected to the National Broadband Network’s Fibre to the Node (FTTN) technology,” Minister Fletcher said.
“This next stage represents another five per cent of the FTTN upgrade program, and NBN Co will continue working to pass a total of 2 million premises by 2023.”
Senator for South Australia, Senator the Hon David Fawcett said that as well as the benefits that faster internet can provide, this investment by NBN Co will provide a much needed boost to economic activity and employment in Adelaide’s north-eastern suburbs.
“The commencement of these works by NBN Co will create jobs in the Makin community and support local businesses by allowing them to take advantage of the benefits that ultrafast broadband can provide,” Senator Fawcett said.
“Businesses can use this ultrafast broadband to make full use of our Government’s almost $800 million Digital Business Plan, as announced in the 2020/21 Federal Budget, empowering businesses to adopt digital technologies to grow their businesses and create jobs.
“Households and businesses in Gepps Cross and Golden Grove will be able to access NBN Co’s fastest internet plans of up to 1 gigabit per second, with the fibre lead-ins connecting premises to the new local fibre network built once a customer orders an eligible service.”
A number of factors were considered in selecting areas in this second stage of investment, including the predicted take-up of higher speed services, while also maintaining a proportionate state and regional mix of locations.
For more information on the NBN, go to nbnco.com.au.
Ends.