Much of the Illawarra’s northern suburbs have officially been placed on the National Broadband Network rollout map.
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But Tullimbar – another area campaigning for better internet access – has missed out.
The northern suburbs has been plagued with problems of poor internet connectivity, with home businesses racking up large mobile data bills and school students having to leave the area to upload assignments.
While Telstra is upgrading infrastructure in the area, for some in the affected suburbs, the NBN was seen as a long-term solution to the problems.
In recent days the area from Thirroul to the Sea Cliff Bridge has been marked as a location where build preparation has commenced.
Work on the NBN has begun in an area in Woonona as well.
Port Kembla, parts of Unanderra, Farmborough Heights and Figtree have also been included on the list. It is expected to take 12-18 months before residents can connect to NBN services.
Cunningham MP Sharon Bird said it was good news that the areas campaigning for better internet had been included.
‘‘While I welcome the information that new suburbs have been added as ‘Build Preparation’, in particular the northern suburbs who have been campaigning on this issue, it is very important for all the residents in all the new areas to be given advice on what technology is going to be used,” she said.
“I am constantly being contacted by local residents who want to know which service they are getting and when they are going to get it. This has become a major issue for thousands of people across our region desperately waiting for fast reliable broadband.’’
In MP Stephen Jones’ electorate of Throsby, Tullimbar residents have been struggling with a limited supply of ADSL ports, with claims the services slow down when a lot of people are online.
Mr Jones said this was far from the only suburb in his electorate to still be absent from the rollout map.
‘‘Many parts of Throsby are still unaware of when they were getting the NBN – places like Oak Flats, Albion Park, Albion Park Rail, Yallah, Primbee, Windang, Berkeley, Robertson, Exeter and Sutton Forrest still have no idea when they will be getting the NBN,’’ Mr Jones said.
In terms of the quality of the NBN connection, generally speaking, unless a person lives in a new development – also known as a greenfields site – they will get a fibre to the node service.
The quality of their NBN service will then depend on their proximity to the node.
