DUBBO’S position in the forefront of the national broadband network rollout was cemented yesterday with the release of a map of South Dubbo detailing the first steps in a 12-month process resulting in the switching on of the network.
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NBN Co said the start of construction of the network would begin with a detailed survey of the area and the existing telecommunications infrastructure.
The new fibre map shows construction will begin in the area between Victoria Street, Cobra Street and Margaret Crescent.
This work is expected to take several months before fibre hauling begins, NBN Co community account manager for NSW, Darren Rudd said.
Mr Rudd said the entire network rollout was expected to take 10 years but Dubbo was in the fortunate position of being at the front-end of the decade-long project.
“The release of these maps each month signals to residents and businesses they are on the way to being able to take advantage of the benefits that the NBN offers,” he said.
He said on average, it would take around 12 months from the start of construction until residents and business owners can order NBN retail services from telephone or internet service providers.
Residents living in the area to be audited can expect to see workers examining Telstra and Optus infrastructure to see what, if any, work is needed to be done to upgrade it before the hauling of the fibre-optic tape.
“Once the audit is done the next step will be to remediate the structure... and in five to six months they will begin hauling the tape,” he said.
Dubbo City Council mayor, Cr Mathew Dickerson said the news of the map release and the beginning of preliminary work on the network was welcome.
He said the council had worked hard with NBN Co to ensure the rollout would progress smoothly.
He said the council would also assist NBN Co to get as much of the project underway as soon as possible so that if a change of government in September results in new NBN policy, Dubbo would still enjoy the technical advantage of fibre to the premises rather than the Coalition’s pledge of fibre to the node.
“I would encourage all residents to start planning for the eventual switch over to fibre by visiting the NBN Co website to find out how the rollout will affect them.”
Mr Rudd said the installation of the fibre would also result in the decommissioning of the copper network from about 18 months after the fibre was operational.
