NBN Co announces new tower hopes for Mylor residents
NBN Co has succumbed to community pressure over its failure to connect close to 500 Hills homes to fixed internet in favour of Sky Muster – a service generally reserved for remote areas.
Adelaide Hills
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People power has prevailed in Mylor with NBN Co succumbing to community pressure to further investigate sites for a wireless internet tower.
NBN Co last month announced that almost 500 properties on the outskirts of Mylor would not be connected to wireless internet and instead be connected to Sky Muster – a service generally reserved for remote areas.
The decision was made after a private landholder pulled out of an arrangement with NBN Co to build a tower on their property late last year.
It has since caused a community outcry, with a Mylor local launching a Parliamentary petition to have the decision overturned.
While it is unlikely that the issue will be resolved by NBN’s June 30 rollout deadline, Head of NBN Local SA/NT Tim Saul said the matter was of high importance to the company.
He would not divulge which sites they were planning to investigate.
“NBN Co will conduct a detailed investigation into whether a newly identified site in the Mylor region of the Adelaide Hills is suitable to host an NBN Fixed Wireless tower to provide broadband connectivity to surrounding homes and businesses in the area,” Mr Saul said.
“This site was previously not considered based on former engineering standards. However, very recent developments in antenna technology mean it warrants further investigation.
“There are still a number of engineering considerations that must be taken into account before NBN can make a determination on the site, even before working through local planning consents is considered.”
Federal Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie, who has been the main political advocate behind the tower, said she was pleased NBN Co had finally come to the table.
However, she said she was concerned that the current COVID-19 crisis was going to stall the process to fast track the project.
“In light of that, and in light of the fact there is enormous pressure now for people to work from home during the pandemic, I have contacted NBN Co to ask what can be done in the interim for people in the Mylor outskirts footprint who cannot get ADSL or reception for mobile data,” she said.
“Twelve to 18 months is too long to wait for adequate broadband.
“If the situation is urgent, NBN Co should work with individual premises and allow them to have satellite immediately, even if there is an understanding that if they want to switch to wireless later they might have to contribute to the cost of installation.”
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Mylor local Susanne Koen is among a group of residents who have vowed to fight NBN Co on the issue.
She said the community had been promised high-speed internet since 2017, but instead would receive a service that was known for its “high latency, lower speeds, capped data, less choice in speed tiers and higher costs”.
“The issue really is two things; a broken promise that we would get better technology and the fact that we will get a lesser service than everyone else,” Ms Koen said.
“I know that NBN Co argues that Sky Muster is perfectly suitable, but the truth is that service is intended for remote areas, such as the outback, offshore and places that are hard to reach.
“It wasn’t initially intended for metropolitan regions and my feeling is, now that NBN has reached near the end of its rollout phase, those areas that have not been connected yet are being put on Sky Muster because that’s the easiest solution.
“But they forget that our taxes go to pay for a high-speed internet across the country, so why do we not get the same deal?”
Ms Koen said failure to connect properties to wireless internet could result in residents giving NBN the snub for good.
“(The community) is already discussing what alternatives we might have and one of the things I’ve been considering is, as there are other providers, to invite them to Mylor to give a presentation to see if they could meet our needs,” she said.