NBN website update allows you to find out when network is available in your area
Updated
Have you wondered when you will have access to the NBN?
For the first time, you will be able to find out. The company has updated the website's address tracker to show a timeframe for when people in an area can connect to the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Previously, the NBN website told people when construction would begin in an area — not when the service would actually be available.
"The number one question we get asked by people is 'when will it actually be available?' so this new update gives people an answer to that very question," NBN spokesperson Dan Chamberlain told the ABC.
The online tool will show an estimated timeframe of the when the NBN will be available in an area, what technology will be used to roll the network out, and a list of retailers that will offer the service once it is available.
Information on internet speeds and bandwidth was not included in the update.
The NBN was rolled out to one in three households and businesses in January, and is scheduled to be rolled out to one in two households in June.
If everything goes to plan, every household in Australia will have access to the network by 2020.
"The rollout of the NBN network is the largest infrastructure project Australia has ever undertaken, so therefore with the sheer size and complexity of this project, we're always going to need a certain amount of flexibility in the technology that we use, and also the timeframe that we roll the network out in," said Mr Chamberlain.
"But, we're currently on track to deliver access to fast broadband for every Australian by 2020."
Once the NBN is available, people have 18 months to move their internet services and landline phones over, and anything else that runs on a landline phone.
The website will be updated as any changes to the estimated rollout times are made.
"NBN relies on address information from external sources that are outside of our control which means we do discover the odd exception within our database containing around 12 million locations," NBN's chief customer officer John Simon said in a statement.
"We will continue to update our website as more information becomes available."
There is the option to sign up for updates via email through the website tracker.
Topics: information-and-communication, internet-technology, australia
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