NBN Co has been accused by the federal opposition of putting regional Australians “at the bottom of the pile” after the company announced it had “killed” maximum speed plans in regional areas.
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On Thursday night, NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow told a Senates estimates committee NBN Co would no longer aim to provide 100 megabit per second speeds on its fixed wireless services.
Member for Farrer Sussan Ley, who also chairs the joint standing committee on the NBN, said Mr Morrow was correct that there was not enough demand and significant costs to deliver the 100mbps speeds for everyone on the wireless network.
“For me, it is more a matter of NBN needing to consistently deliver on their promise of minimum 25mbps wholesale speeds, which allow fixed wireless customers to receive up to 50mbps anytime they need it,” she said.
“What hasn’t been explained, and an answer I will be chasing from NBN is – if I live or run a business in a fixed wireless area, need a 100mb product and am prepared to pay for it – can NBN deliver this at a regional cost?”
In its outlined expectations NBN says the network will deliver speeds of at least 25 mbps to all premises.
In January, NBN Co said half of its 600,000 fixed wireless customers would have access to top speeds but now the company has revealed the high-range product would not be available to anyone with fixed wireless services, used regionally.
Mr Morrow told the committee producing the 100mbps would have an “outrageous” cost of “billions and billions of dollars” for taxpayers and there was not a mass market demanding the top-range speed.
“It would just never happen,” he said.
However, the apparent “backflip” has been slammed by shadow government ministers.
Shadow regional communication minister Stephen Jones said yet again regional Australia was being left behind.
“NBN called this policy ‘game-changing’ and described it as one which delivers for ‘tomorrow and in the future’,” he said
“Regional Australians have rightly been left wondering, what’s changed in such a short space of time?
“This is yet again, another example of regional Australia being put at the bottom of the pile when it comes to broadband and communications.”
The office of Indi member Cathy McGowan was contacted but did not comment.