April 3, 2012
South Burnett residents are going to miss out on the benefits of the new high-speed National Broadband Network … at least in the short term.
No South Burnett towns have been listed in NBNCo’s initial three-year rollout plan which was announced last week.
The nearest communities to be connected are Goombungee and Gowrie Junction where work has already commenced.
Federal Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss said today not one single person in his Wide Bay electorate would be able to connect to the NBN until at least the latter part of this decade.
He said the $50 billion network was proving to be nothing but a cruel hoax for local residents.
“The people of Wide Bay have to bear their share of the liability for the NBN, but no one is getting any benefits,” he said.
“Hardly a week goes by when my office does not receive complaints about the unavailability of high speed broadband in the electorate. In many areas Telstra does not have any ADSL2+ portals available for connections and they have been unwilling to undertake new investment because of the uncertainty about the NBN network,” he said.
“The Wide Bay should have been a high priority area if the Government was genuinely interested in providing high speed internet services to communities that do not currently have access. Instead, Labor is duplicating existing high speed internet services in the cities rather than extending them to areas that are presently underserviced.”
South Burnett General Manager Community & Economic Development Eleanor Sharpe told last night’s Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce Meet’n’Greet that while the South Burnett would be missing out on the fibre-optic option initially, wireless and satellite alternatives would be implemented to service local needs.
