By Margaret Maccoll
Residents and business owners will lose landlines, medical alarms, lifts, back to basics alarms, EFTPOS and ATMs and monitored security alarms unless they move to the NBN within 18 months of their area being switched on to the NBN.
And all NBN services will cease to operate during blackouts unless individuals install their own back-up power services.
This was a warning issued by NBN senior corporate affairs manager Kylie Lindsay when she spoke to the Association of Independent Retirees (AIR) Noosa last week.
Kylie said it was important for people with these services to know they needed to act to move to the NBN. Only those with a mobile phone service did not need to act.
She said after 18 months, Telstra would disconnect the copper line attached to houses.
When the NBN was first rolled out in 2009, it provided fibre to premises but since 2013 it has changed to include a mix of technologies enabling faster and cheaper installation, she said.
“In Noosa it’s fibre to the node technology,” Kylie said with each node or green box delivering NBN to 200-300 premises.
“Around the Sunshine Coast, there are 113,000 ready to connect with 51,000 connected,” she said.
NBN operates as a wholesaler delivering the network to the wall plate attached to a premises, while service providers such as Telstra, iiNet or DODO provide services within the premises.
Kylie said people connected to the NBN should ensure they were receiving the services including the internet speed they were paying for and contact their service provider if they were not.
She said knowing what package to buy was a challenge for many people but those only wanting to do some internet browsing, send a few emails or skype with little downloading could get by with the basic 12/1 package.
Kylie said there were plans to upgrade the NBN service from fibre to the node to fibre to the kerb but it may be years before that is installed.
How to connect to NBN:
Type your address into the NBN website www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home.html
Find a package that suits your needs.
Contact a service provider.
