MORE than 8000 homes and businesses in Footscray will be connected to super-fast internet within the next year.
National Broadband Network builder NBN Co announced last week that work would begin late next year to connect 8300 premises in Footscray to the fibre optic network, taking the total roll-out in Victoria to 114,300 premises as part of the $43 billion project.
NBN Co estimates the average time from the start of work until services are available is about one year.
More details about the location of the initial roll-out will be released closer to the start of construction.
The initial 8300 premises are part of the first module and once complete, work on other modules will begun to eventually connect 31,000 premises in the area.
Fibre optic cabling is predicted to provide speeds of up to 100 megabits per second and eventually up to 1 gigabit per second.
Residents will be asked to give consent for NBN Co to run fibre optic to their home but they have no obligation to connect or pay for the service.
Yonas Mihtsuntu, family services coordinator at Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria in Footscray, said faster broadband would be useful in helping clients access support services and assisting staff to stay up-to-date with the latest research.
‘‘There’s quite a lot of benefits for our day-to-day work and will save a lot of time,’’ he said.
‘‘But what’s the real cost going to be and is it going to be affordable and accessible for people living on tight budgets?’’
Western Health acting chief executive Shaun Drummond said the NBN would ‘‘provide a significant boost’’ to services and staff would be able to access images and information across sites much more rapidly. “Western Health’s recent ICT strategy identified the National Broadband Network as an excellent cost effective initiative to assist us to provide better access to clinical information.
“It will be particularly helpful in supporting the digital radiology system between our hospitals.”
Maidstone-based fibre optic equipment manufacturer, Warren and Brown Technologies, was late last year awarded a $60 million, five year contract to supply wall fittings to connect the cables to homes.
LeadWest CEO Anton Mayer said NBN infrastructure was crucial to balancing the region’s economy as it tried to attract tech-savvy businesses into the west.
Federal Gellibrand MP Nicola Roxon said high-speed broadband services would assist everyone in the community, including students, health professionals, educational institutions, businesses and individuals, to access information quickly and efficiently.
“If we take the health system, as just one example: it will enable the high speed secure transfer of medical imaging, remote and real time diagnosis of tests and scans, video consultations; the possibilities are endless.’’
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