"NBN construction commences covering around 100,000 more premises"

Ten new locations see construction commence

The rollout of the National Broadband Network continues to gather pace with the release today of further detailed maps showing where construction has commenced or completed covering approximately 98,800 additional homes and businesses.

The new fibre maps include 10 locations where work to rollout the fibre optic network is commencing for the first time.

These first-time locations are:

• Maitland in NSW;
• Frankston, Footscray and Keysborough in Victoria;
• Ashmore on the Queensland Gold Coast;
• Gawler in South Australia;
• Northam in Western Australia;
• Claremont and South Launceston in Tasmania; and
• Civic in the ACT.

Construction contractors have now been given instructions to start work in these sites, which begins with several months of detailed surveys of the areas and examination of the existing telecommunications infrastructure. This work is followed by the actual fibre hauling.

"The release of these maps signals to residents and businesses that they are on the way to being able to benefit from this vital upgrade to communications in Australia and take advantage of the benefits that the NBN offers," NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley, said today.

Today's announcement also includes areas where the construction footprint is being widened. (The full list of locations is below).

As at the end of December NBN Co had commenced or completed construction in areas covering 784,600 premises. The 98,800 premises covered by today's map release were included in the December construction commenced or completed figure as the maps are released the month following construction commenced.

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Rhonda Griffin
Mob: 0428134401
Email: rhondagriffin@nbnco.com.au

Areas covered by new construction maps:

NSW

Victoria:

South Australia

Queensland

Western Australia

Tasmania

ACT:

Key:

** First construction module in an area.

Notes to Editors

• Each construction module (FSAM) covers on average 2000 to 3000 premises. The month after contract instructions are issued, NBN Co releases FSAM maps on its website giving more detailed information about the streets covered.

• Work takes place in a number of phases, beginning with detailed design, survey and physical inspection of pit-and-pipe infrastructure to assess condition and the availability of space for additional fibre.

• This is followed by a period of infrastructure remediation, where necessary, then rollout of the passive network, installation of the active network, testing and switch on.

* The new fibre map identifies one or more construction areas where NBN Co has commenced building or intends to build its fibre optic network. From the commencement of work through to when services "go live" for a construction area, NBN Co undertakes a series of construction steps that may result in changes to the design of the network in the respective area, possibly involving the movement of the boundaries. NBN Co may update the map in the future in the event of boundary changes during construction.

The map is for illustrative purposes only. It is not suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes.

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