NBN disaster unravels
STRESS levels have hit extreme highs in many South Gippsland households and businesses, as people wonder if they will ever be connected to what is being described as the “disastrous” National Broadband Network (NBN).
The Star’s Facebook has been flooded with local residents furious about not having any internet after the NBN was supposedly connected to their premises.
Many do not even have a landline, after that was also disconnected.
Leongatha can look on the bright side as the town has not yet had the NBN rollout, but glossy brochures arriving in the post in the last few weeks herald its looming arrival.
After all the negative NBN publicity running viral across the media, Leongatha residents are now fearful about agreeing to the NBN.
The Star asked Facebook users for their opinions on NBN and they cited lack of internet, slow speeds, dropouts and NBN staff missing appointments.
Michael Austin: “Absolute rubbish in Korumburra. Used to work good until October last year. Since then it’s slow. Dropouts and trying to watch a movie on demand from Foxtel is worse than a scratchy DVD.”
Josh Brown: “We had the NBN shut down for 20 days this month. After making multiple calls, and booking multiple appointments which were either not put in the system, made for times that we weren’t available for, or just cancelled without warning because the technicians didn’t have enough time to make the call, it was finally fixed just last Thursday.
“Just to do basic tasks on our phones cost my family up to $100 in extra data charges that were only going to be compensated after we had the problem fixed. Absolutely disgraceful service.”
Connie Lia from Mirboo North: “Since switching to the NBN our internet is ridiculous and slow. We have dropouts and it’s almost impossible to work. Spoke to Telstra and they informed us the speed was acceptable. Running a business, it’s hard to do any work and especially at night times, it’s almost at a standstill to log into any sites.”
Janelle Croatto: “No internet or home phone for a week now since our switch over date. Was told it would only be interrupted for an hour or so.
“It sucks when you work from home and have to go out to find internet. Wish I had never said yes to change over. It was all perfect before.”
Yvetter Renden from Meeniyan: “I had the NBN hooked up a month and haven’t had internet for about three weeks.”
Lisa Ashton: “I have had no NBN for two and a half weeks in Jumbunna. I have made numerous phone calls to my internet provider. I have had to access my friend’s internet for free wifi to do my study and assignments for my online study.”
Jessica Audrey commented: “Had the technician out to install ours in Korumburra and were told that ‘Sorry, there are trees’ so no NBN for us.”
Adriana Mahne from Mt Eccles: “The only way we could get NBN is if we build a shed on a certain area on our property but that would be too big an investment. It’s very annoying.”
Australia is currently ranked 44th in the world in terms of broadband speeds and is sliding rapidly. Even New Zealand is racing ahead of Australia, and there are claims the NBN is already outdated technology and a “total waste of money”.
“Demand a credit from your provider! I got two months worth of bills credited because of constant drop outs. Mind you I have had the issue for a lot longer than two months but I told them it’s ridiculous that I pay full price for a service that they don’t provide,” Facebook user Cathryn Nicholson said.
From what The Star is hearing from people in the industry not wanting to be named, the NBN rollout is already outdated technology.
Many people are disgusted by the “shoddy” works program in place that could make the pink batt saga look like child’s play.
Aussie Broadband managing director Phil Britt said NBN Co has not been meeting deadlines.
“NBN has basically connected customers very quickly in some areas but haven’t planned for the overwhelming capacity that isn’t available,” he said.
The service gets congested in peak times between 7pm and 8pm when many households access the internet.
NBN Victorian spokesperson Michael Moore said people should expect issues.
“The vast majority of the 390,000 Victorian homes and businesses that have already purchased a fast broadband service via the NBN network will have experienced a smooth transition,” he said.
“We urge anybody who does encounter an issue with their connection to work with their internet service provider to get it resolved as quickly as possible.”
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Mar 7 2017. Filed under Featured, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
