Network blamed for provider, plan issues: NBN

Head of newly launched NBN Local team for Victoria and Tasmania Ebony Aitken said the network is not 100 per cent perfect, but many people misunderstood what they are responsible for. 

“What we’re trying to do is build and operate a network and bring everyone else along on the ride, we’re trying to do everything that took Telstra 75 years to build,” Ms Aitken said.

“A lot has happened in a short time. We know we have work to do with providers to make sure people get the best service.”

Ms Aitken said the NBN Local team had conducted drop-in sessions with the Sky Muster satellite truck at Wodonga, Yackandandah and Rutherglen. 

She said they would be in Beechworth on Saturday before visiting Chiltern on Sunday and Wangaratta on Tuesday.

Wodonga residents will need change to NBN by June when the old network is disconnected, while the NBN will be switched on in Beechworth in April.

Ms Aitken said many of the complaints people have around NBN were not problems with the network but modem placement or speed problems providers should address with customers.

“One of the most common misconceptions is people don’t realise NBN is a wholesaler who sells directly to retailers, not individuals,” she said. 

Ms Aitken said it was vital people spoke to potential providers about what speeds were realistic before they paid for high speed packages their address would never achieve.

She said residences have different speed capabilities depending how close they are to a node.

She said many people who complain about their internet speeds being akin to what they received on ADSL, had signed up for lower speed plans without understanding what they would receive.

Ms Aitken said people also should realise, when a problem occurs it was the provider’s responsibility to discover whether there was a fault in the customer’s home setup, in the provider’s network or the wider network.

She said if it was an NBN problem, providers should raise the issue on the customer’s behalf.