“We have received figures that show that while the cost of installing FW is $1300/home, increasing demand will require constant upgrading of the Scotchman Rd tower,” spokesman Jason Errey said.

“So far 65 homes have been connected and there have already been four tower upgrades, each one costing in the vicinity of $60,000 … and the plan is to have 247 homes connected to FW.

“With ever increasing data consumption and demand, the need to upgrade tower capacity will be ongoing.”

He said the installation of Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) was a one-off $2600/home. 

“More than 50 per cent of GDP is generated outside the cities – that includes farming as well as the new generation of people who are able to run their businesses from rural addresses thanks to increased internet speeds.

“Having access to Gigabit connection will mean productivity in the bush will bloom.”

NBN Co General Manager for Corporate Affairs, Sam Dimarco, said access to Gigabit speeds was market driven.

“NBN Co is the wholesaler; when the service providers start selling those speeds en-masse, we will provide them,” Mr Dimarco said.

He said at present, the FW network serving Sunset Ridge and surrounds was capable of delivering wholesale speeds of 50Mbps down and 20Mbps up.

“And to put that in perspective, more than 91 per cent of residents and businesses are subscribing to plans of 25Mbps down and 5Mbps up or below.

“In 2018 in the township of Bellingen, irrespective of what NBN technology serves the premises, each home and business will have access to wholesale speeds of 100Mbps downstream and 40Mbps upstream.”

He said all networks had upgrade paths and the NBN technology on offer was capable of delivering Gigabit speeds. There is also a technology choice program, which offers the opportunity to switch to an alternate NBN technology.

“There are many factors to be considered when switching networks that can influence the cost, as such each application is treated on an individual basis,” he said.

“More information about the technology choice program can be found on our website at http://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-business/technology-choice-program.html”