25 February 2019
The Morrison Government has hit another major milestone on the National Broadband Network (NBN) with three in four premises now able to connect to the network.
Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield said the NBN is on track to connect every Australian home and business to affordable, high-speed broadband by 2020.
“The NBN rollout is now reaching every corner of our country, transforming Australia’s communications landscape,” he said.
“We want to ensure all Australians have the technology they need to connect with family and friends, access quality education, health services and do business globally.”
The NBN is also making broadband internet more affordable by expanding customer choice to more than 160 retail providers. Australia has the seventh most affordable broadband of 22 countries based on broadband prices as a share of household income.
The massive infrastructure project has created thousands of new jobs, with a workforce of more than 30,000 across the country. Research by analytics firm Alpha Beta shows the NBN is predicted to boost Australia’s GDP by up to $10.4 billion at the completion of the rollout.
On customer experience, the government is working closely with NBN Co and industry to deliver improvements. In January 2019, Ninety-one per cent of homes and businesses had their equipment installed right the first time, up from 86% in January last year.
56 per cent of all NBN connections are on speed tiers of 50Mbps or above, a far cry from the days of ADSL and speeds of 8Mbps.
Today’s achievement is a stark contrast to Labor’s complete failure to realise its all fibre NBN fantasy.
Under six years of Labor, 50,000 premises were connected. The Liberal National Government connects almost 100,000 premises every month.
Labor’s NBN would have taken six to eight years longer to complete and cost an extra $30 billion. Every household would have been charged an extra $500 a year for broadband.
Under the Coalition, the NBN is on track to deliver economic and social benefit for all Australians faster and at less cost.
For more information on the NBN rollout visit: www.nbnco.com.au