Dear LG Focus,
Five months after asking the Federal Government and NBN Co. to honour its commitment to roll out Fibre to the Premise to all Darely residents, Moorabool Shire Council and the community have still not received conformation the rollout will happen as originally planned.
When the rollout of the NBN was announced in Bacchus Marsh in July 2010, the Federal Government and NBN Co. consistently advised Bacchus Marsh, Maddingley and Darley community members that NBN Co would rollout FTTP at no charge to residents and businesses.
But after repeated council requests, NBN Co. is still unwilling to confirm the status of parts of the FTTP rollout, sparking fears about the future of the rollout.
The community is still waiting on confirmation that the area in Darley, North of Wittick St, listed as Fibre Serving Area 3BAC-05 on previous NBN Co. maps, would go ahead as planned.
NBN Co. needs to confirm that the technology, speed and costs to residents and businesses of the rollout in this part of Darley are the same as promised, advertised and implemented in the rest of the town.
NBN Co. has spent too much time consulting in our community and designing the network to deliver anything else than the fully funded 100mbps FTTP connection.
Until NBN Co. and the Federal Government rule it out, I fear parts of Darley might end up with slower speeds at a higher cost to connect than what was promised.
Neighbours receiving different service levels and costs after being promised the same service is simply unacceptable.
We don’t think NBN Co. wants that either, otherwise it wouldn’t have told council and our community the plans for Darley.
Therefore I can’t see why NBN Co. is so reticent to simply confirm the original plans to allay the fears of council and the community.
Slower delivery methods and higher costs are barriers to high-speed internet uptake.
Any change will instantly create a digital divide in the same street.
We don’t want our community separated into haves and have nots – we want to be a shining example of the benefits high speed broadband can bring to a community.
NBN Co and the Federal Government need to be very specific about the NBN rollout in Darley.
The Darley community has been patient with the roll-out to date but their patience will be running thin, after five months and counting of waiting for an answer to this one enquiry.
Councillor Paul Tatchell
Moorabool Shire Mayor
