FURIOUS civic leaders fear the Tamworth economy will suffer after yet again being overlooked for the national broadband network (NBN).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NBN Co has announced Tamworth is not part of plans to install super-fast internet to 659,000 homes and businesses in NSW over the next 18 months.
The inexplicable snub means just 100 premises across the entire New England region – all in the town of Quirindi – will receive the NBN between now and June 2016.
Tamworth Regional Council general manager Paul Bennett said the shunning was “a little bit hard to fathom” given the city’s supposed status as an NBN regional hub.
“This is not going to be accepted by our community,” he said. “People don’t understand why the NBN has taken so long to rollout in our city.
“Now, there will be even more questions as to why our city hasn’t been listed along with the likes of Dubbo and Orange.”
Mr Bennett said Tamworth had received a $400,000 federal government grant several years ago to ensure its community was “NBN-ready” and yet appeared no closer to receiving the technology.
“If you’re a big business and you’re setting up a regional office in Dubbo or Orange or somewhere that has the NBN and Tamworth doesn’t, would it make a difference?” he said.
“It probably depends on the nature of the business, but it’s certainly another feather in your cap to say that you have access to high-speed broadband.”
Tamworth Business Chamber president Tim Coates said it was “exceptionally disappointing” the city would miss out after receiving assurances just months ago it was “in the mix”.
“Tamworth has clearly shown itself to be a go-ahead region and the NBN and cost-effective high-speed broadband is the oxygen of modern business life,” he said.
“Why are we being deprived of such oxygen?”
But NBN Co’s chief customer officer John Simon insisted Tamworth “has not been snubbed” and said the NBN, when it arrived, would be a “serious economic game-changer”.
However, NBN Co maintains it has been tasked with prioritising the delivery of the NBN to areas with “limited or no access to broadband”.
“I share the disappointment of families and business people in Tamworth that it does not appear on the latest update to the NBN rollout,” Mr Simon said.