UPDATE February 2023:
The government and NBN Co recently announced 1 million new addresses to be upgraded for full-fibre NBN connections, including our suburbs of Bellbowrie and The Gap. You can find out if you're eligible for an upgrade here.
However, it was disappointing to see that suburbs like Kenmore Hills, Pullenvale, Toowong and St Lucia weren't put on the rollout list. Locals in these suburbs have been dealing with frustratingly inadequate internet connections.
There are still another 1.1 million premises left to be allocated as part of the funded upgrade plan. So I'll be continuing to advocate to the Communications Minister to add these suburbs to the upgrade plan. Stay tuned for any updates.
NBN is currently conducting a major upgrade of their network to full-fibre connections, with 2 million addresses already allocated for upgrade.
The Labor government and NBN Co are currently in the process of deciding on where an additional 2.1 million new addresses will be allocated for upgrade to full-fibre connection.
Many areas on the West Side have incredibly poor NBN and desperately need an upgrade, but there are still some suburbs that aren’t currently on the upgrade rollout.
So now’s the time to tell Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to make sure your suburb is on the new upgrade rollout plan.
Steps:
- Go here to check if your address is already on the upgrade rollout plan*.
- If your address is not on the upgrade rollout plan, go to the template email on the right of this page, personalise as much as possible, and hit send!
The more people who the Minister hears from, the more likely they are to ensure our suburbs are on the new upgrade plan.
MORE INFO
NBN on Brisbane’s West Side isn’t working.
Large sections of suburbs like Kenmore Hills, Toowong, Pullenvale and St Lucia currently have extremely sub-optimal fibre to the node (FTTN) infrastructure that often results in impossibly low speeds and regular drop-outs. Yet these suburbs are not currently on the upgrade plan for the far superior full fibre to the premises (FTTP) technology.
All Australians deserve access to fast and reliable internet. Whether it’s for working from home, running a small business, or just browsing and streaming, quality internet is not a luxury or an optional service. It’s crucial to living in the modern world.
The government has committed another 1.5 million premises (for a total of 2.1 million) to be upgraded from FTTN to FTTP and are currently in the process of deciding on where these new premises are.
Now is the time to contact the Communications Minister to demand that suburbs that are currently not on the rollout plan, like Kenmore Hills, Toowong, St Lucia, and Brookfield are added to this new upgrade plan.
Elizabeth has already written to the Minister demanding that these suburbs be added. You can read that letter here.
In response to that letter, the Minister has replied that: "NBN Co's criteria for selecting upgrades is focused on areas where the company anticipates strong demand for higher speeds; where it can deploy with speed and agility; where it is economical to start work now; and in a way that the investment is most likely to spread and multiply economic activity across the nation." It is my firm belief that all of these apply to Brisbane's Western Suburbs, yet there was no explanation from the Minister as to why suburbs like Kenmore Hills or parts of St Lucia are being neglected.
*NB: Your address may be on a fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the curb (FTTC), HFC (high fibre coaxial), or satellite.
If your address is on FTTN or FTTC, it may be: 1) already available for upgrades, 2) on the current rollout plan (which should be complete in the next 12 months), or 3) not on the current upgrade rollout plan.
If your address is on HFC, it will not be eligible for the upgrade rollout. HFC can be a good technology, but sometimes has degraded infrastructure which leads to significant internet performance problems. Elizabeth is calling for these to be reviewed and repairs provided, and where adequate quality and speeds can’t be achieved, the address be upgraded to FTTN.
If your address is on satellite, it is likely because an alternative in that area has been deemed too expensive or not practical by NBN. Elizabeth is calling on the government and NBN co to ensure those addresses are upgraded either to FTTN or to a functionally equivalent quality technology.