Port Douglas residents told ‘make the switch’
NBN
![](/fileadmin/user_upload/moved_files/8/1/NBN_roll_out.jpg)
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THE National Broadband Network (NBNCO) today confirmed that 2,070 Port Douglas premises have been connected to the NBN.
According to a spokeswoman for the network, this occurred on July 7 and a further 2,100 premises in the Douglas Shire are expected to be rolled out over the next three months.
At this stage, more than 1.1 million people across Queensland have access to the NBN, joining more than 5.7 million across the country.
“It is important for Port Douglas residents to remember that switching to the NBN is not automatic. Now that the network is live, residents and businesses have an 18-month window to make the switch,” said Lynette Keep, NBNCO’s State Corporate Affairs Advisor, Queensland.
“Residents should contact their preferred phone or internet provider when they are ready. After this time, the NBN network will replace most existing landline phone and internet services and the copper network will be decommissioned.
“NBN services are sold by more than 150 different retail service providers across the nation. This means there is plenty of competition and we are recommending that residents and businesses shop around for a plan that best suits their needs,” said Ms Keep.
Access to fast broadband is designed to provide a range of benefits such as improved opportunities to work from home, better access to online education tools and more options for on-demand entertainment.
Businesses will be able to improve their productivity through cloud based sharing with staff and customers as well as have increased opportunities to access new markets through e-commerce.
Ms Keep said that residents experiencing problems should in the first instance, direct concerns to their service providers.
“As NBN is a wholesale provider, there is no direct relationship between NBN and residents and businesses.
“Issues like speed and reliability can be due to a number of factors that are outside of NBN’s control: such as the quality of the modem in the home; how much bandwidth the service provider has purchased; and their network design,” she said.
Ms Keep said the rollout of the network is one of the most complex and ambitious initiatives to be undertaken in any market across the world.
“We’re building a nationwide network that has the ability to deliver wholesale speeds which are currently around eight times faster than the average capacity available on the majority of Australia’s existing broadband services."
The rollout of the NBN network is scheduled to be three-quarters built by mid-next year and complete by 2020.
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