With Sharon Bird, Federal Member for Cunningham.
Sharon Bird and Michelle Rowland today met with local business owners in Port Kembla who have rated Malcolm Turnbull’s NBN Fibre to the Node (FTTN) policy a complete failure.
Over the past two weeks, Sharon Bird conducted a survey of local residents which saw 60 per cent of respondents condemn the FTTN policy.
Sharon Bird said the 509 written comments by locals from all parts of Cunningham were particularly damning.
“People are really angry about speeds, drop outs, reliability, the change from FTTP to FTTN and general connection issues,” Sharon Bird said.
“Our locals are extremely frustrated with the inferior NBN service they are receiving. The Port Kembla Chamber of Commerce has indicated their frustration at extremely old and outdated copper wiring impacting on speed and reliability.
“This just isn’t good enough. The reliance on old copper wiring for the FTTN service is a complete waste.
|
844 |
Total number of NBN survey respondents |
|
509 |
Total number of respondents who registered dissatisfaction |
|
273 |
Total number who indicated they had problems with speed/reliability/service no better or worse than previous |
|
83 |
Total number who specifically indicated that they knew speed issues were related to copper wire issues |
|
97 |
Total number who indicated that they had problems with the installation process |
|
56 |
Total number of respondents who still don’t have access to NBN |
|
Note: Many of the people who commented that they weren’t dissatisfied with their service indicated that this was because they were on FTTP. |
|
Michelle Rowland said that the Cunningham survey results also echoed the CHOICE survey results which reported 62 per cent of consumers experiencing internet problems such as slow speeds and drop outs
According to reports earlier this week, NBNCo has conceded the company has started planning upgrades to the network after its 2020 completion date, aware the current network will not be able to meet the needs of Australians into the future.
This week Michelle Rowland called on the Government to explain how much these retro-fitted upgrades will cost, and how many billions of dollars have been wasted by pushing ahead with a copper rollout that is not fit-for-purpose.
“Malcolm Turnbull must explain why he continues to use taxpayer’s money to deploy copper infrastructure that will soon be redundant, instead of rolling out Fibre to the Home, or at a minimum to the kerb,” Michelle Rowland said.
“Everywhere I go, people are furious about the ongoing slow speeds, drop outs and inability to have problems resolved. Sharon’s survey continues to highlight the same thing I hear all around the country. It’s just a mess,” Michelle Rowland said.
