National broadband arrives in city
Horsham is the latest regional centre to start tapping into Australia’s National Broadband Network.
The service is now available to 3000 houses and businesses within the city’s boundaries, mainly in Horsham West and the central business district.
Connection to the remaining 4800 premises in other parts of Horsham is scheduled to happen by the end of October.
More than 3000 premises on the outskirts of Horsham have been able to take advantage of services through the NBN’S fixed wireless technology since as early as 2014. Other areas can connect to retail services on the NBN network through a Sky Muster satellite service, available from retailers to regional and remote Australians since April last year.
NBN Victorian spokeswoman Kasey Ellison said the latest connections were exciting news for Horsham.
“It means that more homes and businesses can now connect to services over the NBN network through phone or internet providers,” she said.
“The community will join more than 5.8-million other premises across Australia that are currently able to enjoy the benefits of the NBN network, with more than 1.3-million of those in Victoria.
“Access to fast broadband is designed to provide a range of benefits such as improved opportunities to work from home, better access to online education tools and more options for on-demand entertainment. Businesses will be able to improve their productivity through cloud-based sharing with staff and customers, as well as have increased opportunities to access new markets through e-commerce.
“Most importantly, for the first time, people will have a choice of internet speeds.”
Ms Ellison said it was crucial people understood that switching to the NBN network was not automatic and they needed to contact a service provider to place an order for new internet and phone services.
“There are many service providers so means there is plenty of choice,” she said.
“Our message for people is to do their homework, gain an understanding of what they need for their circumstance and find a suitable plan.
“There are more than 150 providers offering retail NBN services to customers, so there are many competitively priced packages available. NBN recommends people shop around.
“When selecting a plan from a retail service provider, people should keep in mind that 25Mbps download speed is considered where ‘fast’ broadband begins. Retail plans based on NBN’S wholesale 12-1 speed tier are not considered superfast and might be similar to what many people currently experience on ADSL2.
“The beauty of the service is that its benefits are far from confined to businesses. Some of the conversations I’ve had with elderly people have been quite exciting.
“They’ve been able to Skype grandchildren across Australia and around the world.
“Then there are all the online education tools, opportunities to work from home and of course we can’t forget the entertainment factor and all the television that is now available.”
Ms Ellison said people could find out whether they were eligible to connect to the service by using a ‘check your address’ function online at www.nbnco.com.au/switch.
The National Broadband Network is replacing most traditional landline networks for phone and internet services, including copper and the majority of hybrid fibre coaxial networks with a mix of technologies. that