7900 Australians still waiting for an NBN connection, almost two years after deadline

NBN revenue is up but more than 7900 Aussie households and businesses are still not connected. SEE THE FULL LIST.

Almost two years after the deadline, more than 7900 households and businesses in nine unlucky Australian areas are still waiting to be connected to the National Broadband Network.

Data indicates some of the properties won’t be connected until July this year, even though other areas of Australia are already having their NBN connections upgraded to faster, fibre technology.

Experts say it was a predictable but disappointing result for the $57 billion infrastructure project, and NBN Co should have ensured all Australians could access broadband services sooner.

An NBN Co spokesman said 7908 premises still required “construction before a customer (could) order an NBN service,” including 5255 New South Wales residents, 1124 in Queensland, and 1269 in Victoria.

“Complex installations include properties that are difficult to access and some culturally significant areas and heritage sites,” he said.

Data from Telstra Wholesale, confirmed by NBN Co, showed premises in nine areas across four Australian states and territories were still in the process of being hooked up to the NBN even though the rollout was due to be completed in June 2020.

Those areas include a substantial area across Parramatta and Rosehill in New South Wales, just 24km away from Sydney’s central business district. Some premises in the area may not be connected until July.

Independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the long wait to get all of Australia connected to broadband was frustrating but predictable as challenging installations were not given priority.

The NBN rollout has failed to hit a major target.

“It was always clear it would take another two years before everybody was really connected,” he said.

“It was clear years ago that some connections were problematic and they were put on the backburner. It’s frustrating for those people.”

It comes as NBN Co revealed on Thursday its revenue had increased 12 per cent during the second half of 2021, fuelled by “strong demand for higher speed broadband plans”.

The company also connected another 190,000 premises during the six-month period despite its June 2020 rollout deadline.

NBN Co says 8.4 million premises are now connected to its network.

After services arrive, homes and business in the areas will have an 18-month window to connect to the NBN.

But Mr Budde said some residents were likely to look at alternative internet connections after such a long delay, including low-orbit satellite services and 5G connections in their homes.

RMIT associate professor Mark Gregory said the connection delay was just one frustration of many for the project, which he said should prioritise fibre upgrades after connecting the remaining properties.

“As far as I’m concerned, the NBN won’t be finished until 93 per cent of premises are connected by fibre,” he said.

“Our competitors in the global digital economy are moving to fibre. Where we were five years ahead of the rest of the world in terms of rolling out fibre in 2010, we’re now 10 years behind and falling behind further every day.”

Mr Gregory said NBN Co should “commit to finishing a fibre rollout” in Australia by 2025, and both major political parties should allow the company to do it.

Australia currently ranks 61st in the world for broadband speed, according to the Speedtest Global Index, behind nations including Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia.

NBN Co has announced plans to upgrade two million fibre-to-node connections to fibre-to-the-premises technology by 2023, increasing their speed and reliability, at a cost of $3.5 billion.

The company is also expected to report its half-year financial results on Thursday.

AREAS YET TO BE FULLY CONNECTED TO NBN

New South Wales

Parramatta and Rosehill: July

Armidale: May

Bombala: March

Griffith: March

Corowa: March

Victoria

Point Cook: Late February

South Australia

Waikerie: March

Northern Territory

Alice Springs: Late February

Source: Telstra Wholesale

Originally published as 7900 Australians still waiting for an NBN connection, almost two years after deadline