NBN kicks a goal in suburban Melbourne
Aussie rules football legends today joined forces with NBN Co to showcase the opportunities for sports stars of tomorrow by hosting Australia's first ever National Broadband Network (NBN)-enabled sports training session.
The demonstration of the capabilities of the superfast broadband network coincided with the switch-on this morning of the NBN in South Morang, in Melbourne's north, increasing the reach of the network to an additional 2,300 suburban homes and businesses.
Today's Grand Final Week training session saw Hawthorn legend and Brownlow medallist Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico deliver expert tips and advice to local South Morang children via a high-speed, high definition video link delivered over the NBN. The children also received on-the-ground training from North Melbourne champion Brent “Boomer” Harvey.
“Grand Final Week is all about being able to connect with the greats of the game. The superfast broadband network being rolled out right across the country will open up all sorts of exciting opportunities for kids in cities, the regions and the bush to get up close to the world's greatest sports stars right from their lounge room or their backyard,” Dipper said.
“The last time I played in a Grand Final was in 1989 - two years before the invention of the world wide web. The sorts of things people can do over the NBN today would have seemed like science fiction back then. Technology is not standing still. Neither should Australia.”
NBN Co's Chief Communications Officer Kieren Cooney says construction work has already commenced on rolling out the NBN to 48,000 homes and businesses in Victoria, including 9,700 premises in South Morang, Mill Park and Bundoora. Construction is set to have commenced or be completed for 690,000 homes and businesses across the state by mid-2015.
“Every home, school and workplace in Australia will be connected to the NBN within the next decade. Better broadband won't just deliver a step change in the way we work, it will have an impact on the way we structure our leisure time too,” Mr. Cooney said.
“For instance, high speed video links can bring sports coaches closer to athletes outside the big cities and help them optimise their performance. It can also enrich the sporting experience for fans, opening up the prospect of more channels and more video streams in high definition.”
The NBN was launched in Victoria in August last year in an area containing 2,800 premises in Brunswick in inner city Melbourne. Rural and regional communities in the state have also begun receiving services over the NBN via fixed wireless and satellite.
Once a street has access to the NBN, home and business owners are able to contact their telephone or internet service provider to see how they can get connected.
Retail prices for NBN plans are comparable to existing ADSL2+ packages but with the prospect of higher speeds and greater capacity.
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