Superfast broadband puts super slow commuting in SA to rest

National Broadband Network improves home life of McLaren Flat family

McLaren Vale and McLaren Flat families are set to experience significant improvements to their work-life balance over the National Broadband Network, with teleworking becoming a viable option for a local business.

The NBN was officially switched on in McLaren Flat today with the NBN now passing 576 homes and businesses across McLaren Vale and McLaren Flat, with a further 1,400 premises expected to be passed in the coming months.

Local McLaren Flat digital consultant, Daniel Procter said connecting to the NBN will allow his business to grow and has already improved his and his family’s home life.

“As a digital consultant, my job is to help businesses navigate the increasingly complex digital world and on my previous ADSL connection I often found myself getting lost in slow download rates and patchy videos,” Mr Procter said

“It got to the point where we were really struggling to work efficiently, so we were considering moving into Adelaide, or renting out an office and making the slow commute into the city every morning.

“However, with the NBN we were able to stay put in our family home overlooking the vineyards and I can now start offering HD video-conferencing to support my clients all across the state, which means a two hour round trip drive to CBD clients is now a HD video-conferencing call over the NBN^*.

“The crystal-clear connection has also allowed me to think bigger than just South Australia; I’m now looking to break into the global consultancy market to further drive my business and I already use the NBN to stay in touch with family and friends back in the UK.

“The NBN isn’t just incredibly helpful for those in the IT industry but anyone who wants to enjoy high speed downloads, staying in touch with loved ones in new ways across the world or taking advantage of distance education options,” Mr Procter said.

According to NBN Co’s Community Account Manager for South Australia Chris Gregory, the NBN is constantly opening up new ways families across the state can grow their home businesses while also maintaining their quality of life.

“People on the NBN are discovering they can work from home like they would from the office, get all the family online at once and stream TV over the internet without constant stuttering and buffering,” Mr Gregory said.*

“The NBN can remove the need for them to make those gridlocked drives into the cities to hold face-to-face meetings and makes downloading large and important business files so much easier.

“The NBN is helping to break down the digital divide, allowing Australians to choose where, when and how they want to work. Working away from the office is no longer a hindrance with super-fast broadband.”

Service providers are ready to sign up families and businesses to the NBN across South Australia,  packages are available at a price less than you might think^##. To find out who they are, go to http://www.nbnco.com.au/get-an-nbn-connection/certified-service-providers.html  

The rollout of the NBN is due to be completed by 2021. NBN fibre currently has construction commenced for more than 96,500 premises in South Australia and construction is expected to commence or be complete for 445,000 premises by mid-2016.^

MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Press Office   

02 9213 2313

Alex Charlwood

Mobile: 0413 693 679

Notes to Editors

• Follow the NBN rollout at www.nbnco.com.au/when-do-i-get-it/index.html  
• NBN Co does not charge consumers for a standard installation of NBN equipment in a home or business. Consumers should speak to their preferred service provider to see if they have any other charges such as set up or activation fees. All Australian homes and businesses within the fibre footprint will ultimately need to access voice and internet services over the NBN as existing landline phone, ADSL internet and Telstra and Optus cable internet services are progressively switched off^##.
• The rollout of the NBN follows a series of design principles that aim to deliver a high-speed broadband network in an efficient and cost-effective manner. These principles include first extending the network in areas where work has already begun; balancing construction across states and territories and between metropolitan and regional locations; and making use of available exchange and transit infrastructure as it becomes available.
• NBN Co is rolling out the fibre network in a series of modules each of which passes around 2000-3000 premises.  NBN Co will generally continue construction of new modules adjacent to existing construction locations until the entire fibre footprint in an area has been completed.

*        End user experience including the speeds actually achieved over the NBN depends on some factors outside our control like equipment quality, software, your organisations’ IT policy and infrastructure, broadband plans and how their service provider designs its network.

^##            For a list of existing services that are not replaced by the NBN visit www.nbnco.com.au/switchoff or call us on 1800 687 626

^       Construction commenced means that NBN Co has issued contract instruction to its construction partners, so they can commence work on the detailed design, field inspections and rodding / roping activities in an area.

National Broadband Network fibre footprint

The purple shaded areas of these maps show areas that are ready for service.