The NBN Co has revealed the next 400 cities and suburbs included in national broadband network construction work up to June 2016, including thousands of homes across Canberra.
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Areas inside and in the surrounding areas of Crace, Scullin, Civic, Kambah and Queanbeyan have been included in the plans, but specific streets and building in these suburbs and surrounds are yet to be named by the company.
This is the first time the Coalition government's cheaper "multi-technology" or fibre-to-the-node and fibre-to-basement technology has been included in a forecast, outlining areas likely to forfeit the potentially faster fibre-to-the-premises connection.
Fibre-to-the-node connects copper telephone lines from multiple premises to a single node that then connects to fast broadband fibre, instead of connecting premises directly to the fibre.
The distance from a node to a building and the condition of the copper being used can make connections slower than those on fibre.
NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said newly built dwellings were more likely to receive fibre to the premises, with older buildings better able to make use of existing infrastructure, including hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) pay TV cables.
This forecast did not include the HFC cables, however.
- 1,300 homes in Crace and surrounds (Fibre to Premises),
- 23,100 in Scullin and surrounds (Multi-Technology Mix),
- 16,800 in Civic and surrounds (Fibre to Premises and Multi-Technology Mix),
- and 16,100 in Kambah and surrounds (Multi-Technology Mix),
- 10,700 in Queanbeyan (Fibre to Premises and Multi-Technology Mix).
It is understood specific streets will appear on the company's rollout map in upcoming quarterly announcements.
Mr Morrow said it was understandable some people would be disappointed they were not included in the rollout scheme or would not get the type of connection they coveted.
"Naturally some people will be disappointed that they are not included in today's plan but ultimately no-one misses out as the NBN will be made available to every Australian family and business by 2020," NBN Co spokesperson Darren Rudd added.
About 300,000 premises have been connected to the NBN in the four years since the rollout began, which has been mired in politics and controversy.
The previous Labor government had planned to connect 97 per cent of premises directly to fibre (fibre-to-the-premises, or FTTP), however this model was scrapped by the Coalition government.
There has also been disputes over the timing of the rollout, and last month the company said it offered no guarantees of meeting its three-year plan.
However Mr Morrow said forecasting processes had been refined to more accurately reflect the various stages of the build-out and the new technologies in the mix.
"They [forecasting processes] are not perfect, but they are far better than they were, and they're advanced enough to the point where we feel comfortable giving this level of forecast," he said.
While forecast gives consumers some indication of when they can access the NBN, it is aimed primarily at giving NBN Co's wholesale customers - internet service providers such as Telstra's retail arm - some time to plan their retail offerings.