NBN available across many regional areas

NBN corporate affairs manager Jill Bottrall said the service had been rolled out across many regional areas.

“It’s all going very well,” she said. Ms Bottrall said 79,000 people in SA have already connected but a lot didn’t realise they could already connect.

“When the roll-out is complete, 790,000 people in SA will have access to fast internet,” she said.

“We are undertaking work in the South East, Riverland, West Coast, and work starts soon on a whole range of places. Kangaroo Island is essentially done, and large parts of metropolitan Adelaide are under construction as well,” she said.

Ms Bottrall said there wasn’t a fixed line on the Eyre Peninsula yet, but building would commence in December at Cowell, and then move to Tumby Bay, Port Lincoln and Ceduna. As for the Sky Muster – the first of two satellites to be used by the NBN – Ms Bottrall said it has had a positive reaction. 

“We’ve had a lot of really positive stories come out of regional SA,” she said.

“They haven’t had this kind of access to internet before and it has been incredibly welcomed.”

The second satellite for Sky Muster is scheduled to blast into space on October 5, taking off from South America and set to orbit at an altitude of close to 36,000 kilometres.

The satellite will help bridge Australia’s digital divide for about 400,000 homes and businesses in regional and remote areas.

While the Sky Muster Satellite Roadshow has been touring SA since early August, Ms Bottrall said the highlight was providing the Port Lincoln locals a chance to watch the Rio Olympics live.

“Our road muster truck was broadcasting the race of young local lad Kyle Chalmers, when he won gold at the Olympics,” she said.

“It was amazing event to share with the locals.

“In the next couple of years we expect there will be about 34,000 that hook into the Sky Muster, which intends to be a game changer those who live and learn in remote SA.”