Dubbo will be completely connected to the National Broadband Network by the end of the month, nbn has confirmed after three more sections of the city went live on Friday.
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Dubbo has been divided into seven areas that service the city (see map above). Areas two and three were the first to be switched on, while areas one, six and seven that cover the city’s east, south east and south west are now in service.
Fixed Wireless access has already been provided to residents on Dubbo’s outskirts while anyone who can’t access that will be eligible to sign up to the nbn Sky Muster satellite.
Some internet providers have indicated the final two service areas, four and five, will go live on Wednesday, June 29. Nbn manager state corporate affairs Kelly Stevens wouldn’t confirm that, but said all areas would be live by the end of June – the following day.
“Once the remaining two areas are switched on at the end of the month the whole of the region will be able to access fast and reliable broadband through either our fixed wireless, fixed line technology or our Sky Muster satellite service,” Ms Stevens said.
The Sky Muster satellite was launched by nbn in late-2015 and became available to the public in April.
While approximately 400,000 premises are eligible to access the service, rollout and installations will be restricted by the remote locations.
In the early stages, 5,000 users nationwide will be connected, increasing to 10,000 a month later in the year. Nbn said it hoped there would be 85,000 users on Sky Muster by June 2017.
According to Parkes MP Mark Coulton, an estimated 18,964 homes and businesses in the electorate would connect to the nbn via Sky Muster.
Some users have complained that while download speeds are supposed to be comparable the other services provided in populated areas, the data limits are far more restrictive and plans more expensive.