THERE’S a little bit of Dubbo going into the National Broadband Network (NBN), with workers at Westhaven playing a key part in the local rollout.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Westhaven staff have spent the last four months creating thousands of labels, which are required to identify each cable in the network.
“Every cable has two labels, and every Fibre Distribution Area (FDA) could have up to 40 cables, so that’s 80 labels for each area,” said Graeme Apsland, a project supervisor at Downer EDI - the company responsible for the NBN rollout in Dubbo.
“I couldn’t tell you how many they’ve made for us - a lot.”
All labels must meet NBN Co standards, and Westhaven manager Kris Gersbach said the staff are up to the challenge.
“The guys make about 1,000 units a month. They don’t miss too much,” Ms Gersbach said.
The labelling work will continue into 2016, and it is hoped the Westhaven staff will also be able to make the labels for the NBN rollout in Gulgong and Wellington.
“This is something very different,” Ms Gersbach said.
“They see the NBN is coming - they see it on TV, on the street - and they get excited because they’re a part of that.”
Parkes MP Mark Coulton said it was great to see Downer creating partnerships in the region.
“I think it’s symbolic that there’s a little bit of Dubbo going into this job,” he said.