The efforts of Bellingen Shire residents to put the issue of potential substandard NBN coverage firmly on the council’s agenda, as well as the Federal Government’s radar, have been rewarded.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In what is nothing short of a coup, a meeting on June 27 saw the council, residents and Chamber of Commerce representatives put their case to senior representatives from NBN Co, Telstra and a policy adviser to the Shadow Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowlands.
“We had a detailed discussion about the roll-out and NBNCo has now undertaken to install Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) in Bellingen and Dorrigo,” General Manager Liz Jeremy said.
“It took a lot of work to get these people into one room but it has resulted in an excellent outcome and these upgrades are beyond what was originally planned. We are continuing to monitor the service to the broader community, including Urunga.”
After the meeting Shadow Minister Rowlands said, through her policy adviser, that a lot could be learned from Bellingen Shire about the importance of high-speed broadband in supporting sustainable communities that attract professionals from the cities.
“I’m so pleased to see the Bellingen Shire Council advocating for access to better quality broadband on behalf of their constituents, and securing Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) rollout. FTTC is both a better technology and has a viable upgrade path to deliver better speeds over time.”
The following day at their monthly council meeting Cr Toni Wright-Turner said the council should continue to do everything possible to prevent the delivery of mixed technologies creating tiers in property values.
Cr Dominic King said Urunga was a particular case where the delivery plan for Fibre to the Node (FTTN), now deemed to be obsolete technology, was already well advanced.
“We need to see how we can best push this along,” Cr King said.
Cr Jenny Fenton’s unanimously supported motion was for the council to “lobby NBNCo and relevant State and Federal Ministers for the township of Bellingen Shire Local Government Area to receive Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) infrastructure as a minimum service level.
“Council is highly concerned with the impact on equity of access and property prices within the township areas should “Multi-Technology Mix” (MTM) extend into the town boundaries.
And further: “The council welcomes the decision to provide FTTC to the Dorrigo and Bellingen, however, requests NBNCo to provide Fixed Wireless to the Gleniffer Valley and Fibre to the Curb to Urunga.”
The council also thanked the Shadow Minister for her involvement.
