The smiles on the faces of others will be generous, but there will be some sardonic cynicism from their neighbours down the range.

There but for the grace of some godly decision – read government – go they.

The first place in Australia to switch over fully to the National Broadband Network is reaping the benefits.

Armidale was one of the first regions to transfer to the network in 2014 and today there are 12,000 households and businesses on the NBN.

Witness the fact the celebration will be centred in the offices of Whitehack, an online security company that relocated here from the United States because of the NBN.

The stories shared by other businesses now calling Armidale home are testament to what anyone with any digital or technological nous knows.

Internet speed is all-important, and every regional place in the country knows it is the line to success and the means by which rural centres can compete when it comes to communications.

It is why there has been such an undercurrent of anger and disappointment at the delays Tamworth has seen when it comes to our turn for the NBN rollout.

It is critical and there are many in Tamworth who can’t wait – but have to for the now-expected arrival of fibre to the node, the bridesmaid to the once-touted fibre-to-the-home connections we thought we were going to get.

That’s 2017 at last count. We have been pushed down the list a couple of times.

But Armidale’s luck is theirs. 

The NBN has helped businesses there to extend online reach, allowing them to have clients all over the world. And they do have.

Not only does it bring geographical reach and business opportunity, but the speed at which they can do things provides business savings as well.

Over the past five years there’s been some political posturing and complaint – and a warning that politicians here couldn’t take the electorate for granted when it came to NBN achievements.

While to his credit Barnaby Joyce has argued Tamworth hasn’t slid backwards in the schedule because of politics, he’s in no doubt about the need for Tamworth to get onto the map.

Anyone at home trying to reach the outside world – and having all sorts of disruptions and disconnections using their computers or digital devices – will know exactly how frustrating our world is and why the new dawn can’t come soon enough.