NBN switches on in Mackay's north

By the end of this month, there will only be small pockets of work to be finalised before all premises in the Mackay Local Government Area have an NBN service

SERVICES on the NBN are switching on for another 5900 premises across North Mackay and Mount Pleasant via the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network. Picture: Marc Stapelberg

SERVICES on the NBN are switching on for another 5900 premises across North Mackay and Mount Pleasant via the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network.

Dawson MP George Christensen advised residents to watch out for a letter from NBN in the mail, outlining all the information they need for making the switch.

"This latest switch on means that by the end of this month, there will only be small pockets of work to be finalised before all premises in the Mackay Local Government Area have an NBN service available to them," Mr Christensen said.

"Residents and businesses need to contact their preferred service provider and place an order to move their landline phone and internet services over to the NBN network."

The latest switch on means there are now 38,500 premises across the Mackay Local Government area with access to a fixed line NBN service, and about 22,150 have already made the switch.

A further 8000 premises are now able to order a fixed wireless NBN service.

Residents need to be aware that affected phone and internet services will stop working once the existing network is switched off in 18 months time. They can check their address on the nbn website at www.nbn. com.au to find out where they're at with the rollout.

Once the premises is active, they will be able to see a list of the available providers in their area to assist with choosing the right NBN provider and plan for them.

Mr Christensen said access to fast broadband through the NBN was designed to provide a range of benefits for homes and businesses such as improved opportunities to work from home, better access to online education tools and more options for on-demand entertainment.

Originally published as NBN switches on in Mackay's north