Jones welcomes NBN switch on in Dapto

07 February 2014

nbn_rollout.jpgFederal Member for Throsby Stephen Jones welcomes the news that the first homes and businesses in Dapto will be able to connect to Labors NBN fibre broadband network from today.

This news will remove uncertainty for locals in 2,300 premises in Dapto, who had been kept in the dark by the Abbott Government as to when, if ever they would be connected to Labors NBN, said Jones.

I remain concerned about the fate of the rest of the region who could be stuck with a mess of different and inferior broadband technologies, after the Abbott Governments dismantling of Labors NBN fibre rollout plan.

There are still 29,000 local premises that have been completely wiped from the rollout map with no word if they will be connected by the 2016 deadline the Coalition has promised.

Its a huge problem for peoples in areas like Albion Park, Oak Flats and the Southern Highlands, where overloaded exchanges and geographic difficulties mean many cannot even connect to basic ADSL and have to rely on expensive and unreliable dial-up.

Todays announcement is a great win for Dapto, but I believe that everyone should have affordable access to the NBN, no matter where they live, said Jones.

This will not happen under the Coalitions NBN plan.

Malcolm Turnbull is stopping the rollout of fibre to the home and axing uniform pricing so that people in the regions could pay more than those in the city. Its just not good enough.

Labor knows we need to do it once, do it right and do it with fibre. Our future depends on it.

I will continue to fight hard for fibre to be connected to every home and business in the electorate when Parliament resumes next week.