[LINK] NBN popular

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Up to 90% see the need for NBN speed 

by Lucy Battersby, October 18th, 2010
<http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news>


NBN Co is overwhelmed by the number of households in mainland test sites 
signing up for an optical fibre connection to the national broadband 
network. 

In some regional towns nearly 90 per cent of houses will be connected.

In contrast, only 51 per cent of households in Tasmanian test sites 
agreed to a fibre connection, prompting some to question whether 
Australians would embrace the publicly funded project.

NBN is bringing fibre to 12,200 houses in five mainland test sites. 
Retail carriers are expected to start providing broadband and telephone 
services in about eight months.

NBN Co has not yet announced wholesale prices, which must be approved by 
the competition watchdog. At least 87 per cent of properties at a test 
site near Armidale have requested fibre connections, the highest rate so 
far.

The Armidale site encompasses the University of New England and is in the 
seat of the independent MP Tony Windsor, who cited the project as a key 
reason for supporting the Labor government.

"We are very happy with what we are finding in the first-release sites on 
the mainland," NBN Co's chief executive, Mike Quigley, told 
BusinessDay. "That number is considerably above what we had anticipated.''

About 84 per cent of properties in the McLaren Vale township of Willunga, 
South Australia, had agreed to connect, and 74 per cent in Kiama. So far 
54 per cent of households have consented in Townsville but NBN Co expects 
that number to rise to 64 per cent as landlords return forms for rental 
properties.

State property laws prevent NBN Co contractors from entering a property 
to lay the final few metres of fibre and to connect equipment unless the 
company receives the owner's written consent.

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Cheers,
Stephen