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NBN releases tool to tell you when you get the NBN and the type of technology

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Bondi, Mosman, Newtown, Ryde and Campbelltown are among the 67 Sydney suburbs that will receive the National Broadband Network by June.

The list of suburbs comes with the launch of a new online tool that will allow Australians to check what sort of NBN technology they will be receiving and when, by conducting a search on their home address.

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The "check your address" function launched on the NBN website on Monday and is expected to provide greater clarity on the network's national rollout, which has been plagued by back flips and contradictory messages.

NBN is currently connecting more than 25,000 homes and businesses to the network each week, with the rollout reaching one in three Australian homes and businesses.

"With this in mind, we have moved away from telling people when we'll be in their neighbourhood to when they can contact their retailer to buy a service," said John Simon, NBN's chief customer officer.

"The update also means for the tech enthusiasts, who are interested in what kind of technology their retailer will connect them to via the NBN network, that this information is available to them."

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The new messaging follows a company decision in late-December, to strip information from its website allowing Australians to see which type of broadband technology they could expect on their street.

The "check your address" function was in fact launched at this time, in place of a previous three-year construction plan that revealed estimated start dates and details of the type of technology expected for each suburb –  including fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), fibre-to-the-node (FTTN), hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) or fixed wireless.

On Monday a revised version of the tool will see types of technology returned to a suburb's profile, in addition to a delivery time frame, advising households on when they can contact their preferred retailer to connect to the NBN.

An NBN spokesman said the company had been refining the tool since the initial website change last year, as part of its commitment to "providing Australians with as much transparency and detail...as possible."

"The sheer size and complexity of the network build means there will always be a need for flexibility on our planned technology and service availability dates, so we will continue to be transparent with any further updates," he said.

However, he added that people needed to be "prepared for change," as "it's not until we are in the streets that we have a clear view of the technology available to individual homes ..."

Teresa Corbin, chief executive officer of consumer representative Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, said the new tool was a positive step in light of ongoing issues with the transparency of the rollout.

"The fact they are changing the emphasis to make it more consumer friendly, and telling you the type of technology is very valuable to people," she said.

 

"It's going to help you planning what service you might purchase from which retail service provider, or where you might like to move, [especially] if you are a student ... there are so many reasons people need this information."

Ms Corbin added that while the improved tool was "great, we want more."

"We are disappointed there hasn't been a construction plan published since October 2015. We still think there is a place for the plan to be published and updated quarterly, as was promised," she said.

"I can't say strongly enough, the more information and transparency about the rollout, the better for consumers in the long run."

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