A $4.5 billion investment in NBN to help it deliver ultra-fast broadband connections over the next three years is great news for many Illawarra businesses and residents, according to Internetrix managing director and RDA Illawarra board member Daniel Rowan.
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"What the federal government has done with this announcement is give businesses in the Illawarra access to more affordable fibre if they don't have it already," Mr Rowan said.
"And for those people who don't they have provided confidence in a sense that we all know now fibre is going to be available in the medium term to anyone who wants it without exorbitant costs to install it."
Mr Rowan said the investment in such important infrastructure was going to help many.
He said the Illawarra being included in the launch of new zoning and pricing for the NBN Co's Enterprise Ethernet product (EE) meant the region would not only gain free fibre installation, but also have access to NBN Co's Enterprise Ethernet at CBD pricing.
Mr Rowan said in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic a significant number of people have worked from home.
So this was good news for employers with staff at home without a commercially viable internet connection.
"There is a pathway now for employers to help their employees get connected onto fibre with no upfront costs. They can either do that now with the business grade product, or they can wait until the residential product is rolled out down streets in the months and years ahead."
Mr Rowan said another good thing about the latest announcement is that everything that has been rolled out so far by NBN Co has been with a larger download and smaller upload capacity.
But what is coming will see equal capacity up and down.
"That is really what the business grade benefit is," he said.
"Cheaper symmetrical internet is really attractive.
"The bigger employers around the Illawarra will also be able to access these good speeds.
"Downward pressure on costings is also going to be good news for them."
Kiama was one of the first areas to have superfast fibre to the premise in 2011, however other areas of the Illawarra are lagging. And there are some areas where fibre is 'patchy' or using old redundant copper lines for NBN connectivity.
'Fibre to the Premisea' will help business, commuters, aged care, students and the community in general emerge from COVID-19.
Mr Rowan said last week's announcement gave everyone relying on good internet speeds more confidence that fibre is coming.
"And if you can't wait and need extra data now NBN Co has slashed its prices and made it is significantly more affordable," he said.
"So you can fast track your fibre roll-out now, or you can wait until it comes down the street.
"The good news for everyone is better internet is coming."
Mr Rowan said during the past seven years if you were on fibre to the node and were relying on copper in the street up to the green box node in the suburb, the only way you could get fibre installed was to pay NBN Co a significant fee. And that was determined by how far away you were from the node.
RDA Illawarra regional manager Debra Murphy said the vital role of technology to support business was discussed at its April board meeting where the directors resolved to write to Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher seeking increased fibre rollout across the entire region.
Ms Murphy said Illawarra's demand for stable and high speed broadband access has grown exponentially over the past year, accelerated by COVID-19.
"The timing is perfect for an increased roll-out of fibre capability in the region," she said.
"Businesses in the Illawarra deserve to have business-grade fibre services that are affordable and accessible to enable business innovation, productivity and growth."
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
