NOT having the National Broadband Network (NBN) is driving would-be residents from Tamworth and hampering the city’s growth, a local business head believes.
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Tamworth Business Chamber president Lia Mahony has joined the fight to see the high-speed internet service be rolled out quickly across the city, because delays are costing businesses time and money.
“It’s a hot topic that affects new residents to the city,” Ms Mahony said.
“All industries, like healthcare (and) education, are underpinned by the NBN.”
Ms Mahony believed internet was an increasingly vital tool for local businesses to stay viable in a competitive market.
“From a personal perspective (working in healthcare), technology is very important to match the currency of education (and) converse with other healthcare professionals,” she said.
“Teleconferences, videoconferences are becoming the norm. We need those new technologies to keep up. We need to be on the ball.”
Ms Mahony feared Tamworth’s population could dwindle if internet access remained sub-par, because businesses could close, families who use internet for leisure won’t want to come to the region and aspiring entrepreneurs would be less inclined to start anything up.
“To have a future, we need high internet speeds,” she said.
It comes as Barnaby Joyce hit back at criticisms over the “stalled roll-out” of the NBN, confirming 19,100 Tamworth properties would be either ready for service or under construction by the end of September 2018.
Tamworth mayor Col Murray threw his weight behind calls for a speedy roll-out of the service. He feared local high-tech businesses were being hit by the slow roll-out but conceded the project was impossible to fast-track.
“From a business point of view, there’s a distinct advantage to having faster broadband connections by fibre to the node,” Cr Murray said.
“There’s certainly going to be new technology businesses (experiencing) shortcomings, I believe.
“I hear a lot of debate – some concern about the service being compromised (after the roll-out) and some benefits because of the age and cost of the technology.”
Cr Murray stressed Tamworth should have secured the NBN ahead of smaller centres such as Armidale, but he remained “realistic”.
“There’s going to be winners and losers,” he said.
“We’re not at the back of the queue, but we’re certainly not at the front.”