A battle between a Dunmore business owner and NBN Co is set to go all the way to parliament.
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On Monday, March 8, Whitlam MP Stephen Jones said he would take Glen Steggles' plight to the federal parliament after meeting with Mr Steggles.
Mr Steggles owns Dunmore Resources and Recycling, and has been trying to get a fibre to the node NBN connection for his business since late last year, when his ADSL connection stopped working.
The business next door to him has a fibre to the node connection, but Mr Steggles has been told that is not possible for his business.
He was initially told: "The physical cable distance from the identified premises to the node cannot guarantee a minimum 25Mbps Download and 5Mbps upload speed, as required by the Australian Government for fixed line services."
Although there is copper wiring infrastructure to his property, he was told they were beyond the current NBN network boundary.
Mr Steggles was disappointed at the prospect of having to switch to satellite, as neighbouring businesses had told him it was unreliable.
Mr Jones said the situation "seemed ridiculous".
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"I've written to The Hon Paul Fletcher MP Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts and will bring it up in parliament next week," Mr Jones said.
"It should have been done when the initial rollout was allegedly complete. This is not a remote community, he sits on the edge of one of the fastest growing areas in the Illawarra.
"Businesses shouldn't have to pay twice to get access to a basic service. The internet is not an add on luxury, it's essential for every business in the country."
NBN Co was first approached for comment on March 1, when they said they would conduct an investigation.
Asked again on March 8, a spokesperson said Mr Steggles could connect to the nbn via satellite, and "customers do not get to choose their NBN access technology".
"NBN Co is investigating a range of options to connect Dunmore Resources and Recycling Pty Ltd to the NBN network," the spokesperson said.
"More information will be made available in due course."
According to NBN Co, 87 per cent of those connected to the NBN via satellite were businesses.
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