National broadband implementer, NBN Co has released figures that show about 4000 homes and businesses were connected to Australia’s national broadband network at the end of 2011.

 

Of the 4000, about 2315 premises have signed up to use the fibre optic service and 1700 in rural and remote Australia were receiving broadband via the interim satellite service, which was launched only six months ago.

 

NBN Co announced in October plans to extend the fibre to an area covering half a million premises in every state and territory. The company intends to announce plans to roll out the NBN to a further three million homes over the next three years. It also plans to switch on the first rural communities to be served with a fixed-wireless connection by mid-2012.

 

NBN Co’s head of product development and industry relations, Jim Hassell, said the organisation will look back on 2011 as a pivotal year for the NBN which saw it move from planning and designing the network to the rollout of telecommunications infrastructure – which will continue over the next decade. 

 

“Indeed, the biggest challenge we face is managing the expectations of communities who want the NBN – and want it now,” he said.

 

“The key question we hear is not ‘Why do we need the NBN?’ but ‘When am I going to get it?’ A crucial task for 2012 will be to educate and inform Australians about the principles that dictate the rollout.”

 

Mr. Hassell said key achievements in 2011 included:
 

• Locking in the fundamental commercial agreements that underpin NBN Co’s role as a vital piece of telecommunications infrastructure of long-lasting national benefit. The agreement with Telstra took more than 18 months to negotiate and is one of the biggest and most significant corporate agreements in the country;
 

• Signing agreements with construction contractors in every state and territory;
 

• Opening the nerve centre of the network – the National Operations and Test Facility in Melbourne;
 

• Signing the first commercial contracts (the Wholesale Broadband Agreement) with telecommunication service providers and ISPs, and lodging with the ACCC the framework for how the NBN will be regulated over the long term (the Special Access Undertaking)

 

“We’re under no illusions. This is a complex project – not just in size and scale, but because it is fundamentally reshaping the telecommunications landscape in Australia, Mr Hassell said.

 

"That will have huge implications for the way we live and work and help Australia compete in an increasingly online world.”

 

NBN Co has so far been rolled out and activated in areas passing 18,200 premises – three sites in Tasmania and the five mainland ‘first release’ sites.