Residents recently had an opportunity to ask questions about  NBN during a visit of Marcello Massi, NBN Community Affairs Manager – Queensland

On 12 September Speewah District Resident Association hosted a meeting where Marcello was the guest speaker.  Marcello stated that three types of Broadband sources will be available in the Kuranda region.

They are:

  1. Fixed Wireless. Where the signal is transmitted from a tower where NBN planners have marked out a defined area, or footprint, where residents can receive the signal through the use of an antenna on their roof. Residents who have line of sight of the tower can use this method. Fixed Wireless services in the Kuranda region will be/are located at Clohesy/Koah [already in service]; Speewah, Speewah Road, Telstra exchange site; Kuranda village/Myola, Kuranda Heights Road [this tower has been built but is not yet in service] and at Harley Road Kowrowa. This tower is erected but is not yet operational.
  2. Fibre to the node. This method will be used to service the Central Business District of Kuranda. Fibre connection is made to a cabinet [node] in the street and the connection to the customer is completed through the existing copper cable.
  3. Satellite this method is used where residents cannot receive fixed wireless because they are not in line of sight with the fixed wireless service.

NBN expects that Fixed Wireless services will be operation by the end of 2016. Satellite service is available now. Fibre to the Node in the Kuranda CBD will be available early in 2017.

Marcello pointed out that NBN is the wholesaler of Broadband. Residents, who want to be connected to the Fixed Wireless service, should speak to their Internet Service Providers (ISP) to order a service.  The ISP will then deploy an NBN contractor who will visit the site and check that the signal strength is able to receive quality broadband. If the signal strength is within the accepted parameters, the contractor will proceed with the installation of the antenna and internal modem.  Should the signal strength not be within the specified parameters, the resident may be able to obtain a Sky Muster Satellite Service.  Signal strength is affected by heavy vegetation and topography. It is suggested that residents should shop around the various ISP’s, as they will discover, some ISP’s are more competitive than others and have available different packages to choose from. A list of ISP’s is available on the NBN web site.

The meeting was well attended and the question most in the minds of residents was –

“If we don’t want to make the change to connect to the NBN, can we still have our landline phone and have ADSL broadband?”
Marcello answered yes, provided that you were in an area where Fixed Wireless Broadband and Sky Muster Satellite is being offered.  In the fixed line area, such as the Central Business District of Kuranda, migration to the nbn network will be required.

If residents need more information on this service, they can contact their preferred ISP, Bob Madden by email on the contact us form or info@nbn.com.au.

[Source: Bob Madden, Speewah]