By STEVE GRAY
THE Southern Downs and Tenterfield have been left stranded as the National Broadband Network is forced to reconsider the service’s rollout.
According to the NBN’s own maps, the City of Warwick is an island surrounded by broadband-capable services.
Meanwhile the release of any plans for NBN installation in Stanthorpe or Tenterfield is on hold until at least 2 December, when the company will announce the results of a review of the NBN.
The incoming Abbott government has told NBN Co to complete a 60-day strategic review of the rollout.
The NBN has been able to complete the installation of two operating facilities in and around Warwick which cover close to 600 premises, one facility in Sladevale and one in Rosenthal Heights.
These are wireless systems. The city area of Warwick was due to get a faster optic fibre link to the NBN but this installation will now have to wait upon the government’s Interim Statement of Expectations which instructed the NBN to review and audit the rollout.
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has promised to deliver the NBN “sooner, more affordably for consumers and at less cost to taxpayers”.
Labor says this means a less capable system using old copper connections to people’s homes, which compares unfavourably with their planned fibre to the home broadband network.
Federal MP Bruce Scott said Labor had overcommitted the NBN.
“We’re committed that by 2016 all Australians would have access to 25 megabits per second download at the universal price, whether you live in Brisbane or Warwick or Winton,” Mr Scott said.
The Government will shift its NBN building program to the areas of least services, benefitting rural consumers.
Mr Scott said many Australians were switching to wireless communications through phones and tablets and didn’t desire Labor’s fibre to the home model.
“People are voting with their feet by opting for more wireless connectivity as their preferred option,” he said.
“We’re seeing the migration away from fixed line connectivity to mobility.”
A statement from NBN Co to the Southern Free Times said “after we have the outcome of the strategic review we will be able to come back to you with more information” on the rollouts for the rest of Southern Downs and Tenterfield.
“In line with the Government’s interim statement of expectations, issued to the company on 24 September 2013, NBN Co is currently undertaking a strategic review of the rollout of its network,” the statement said.
“The review will determine how best to provide access to very fast broadband to all Australians as soon, cost-effectively and affordably as possible.
“NBN Co’s maps will be updated when further areas enter the building stage and the shape of the rollout becomes clearer following the completion of the strategic review.
“While the review is underway, construction of the network is business as usual.”
A spokesman said the review could open up new and different technologies for delivering fast broadband.
