HAMILTON Hill resident David Carson was without internet or landline when a switch to NBN failed and he could not return to a broadband connection.
The digital media artist had to travel in to Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts three times to physically show them the videos he was designing, rather than sending them via email.
He was also disconnected from his elderly mum in the UK from June 23 to July 14 when a loose connection was finally repaired by NBN after three technicians had initially viewed the node.
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READ NOW“I live online,” he said.
He has a paper trail of his complaint and a record of the phone calls made to service provider iiNet and NBN Co and felt there were delays in getting a resolution.
“For years they said ‘don’t worry, the NBN is coming’, so the minute it did I signed up; that’s when my nightmare started,” he said.
“I blame the (Federal) Government because its been rushed through.”
Mr Carson contacted Federal MHR Josh Wilson’s office on July 10, which in turn contacted NBN Co on Mr Carson’s behalf that same day.
Mr Carson paid for a Vivid Wireless connection and racked up a larger mobile bill while trying to work around the fault; iiNet offered him a $100 rebate.
His internet speeds are about 4Mbps to 5Mbps – well short of the promised 12Mbps but up from previous 2Mbps he got before switching to NBN.
Mr Wilson said Mr Carson was not the only person frustrated with telcos and NBN Co.
“The degree of ‘buck-passing’ when it comes to broadband can be maddening,” he said.
“NBN Co tells customers they should be dealing with the retail service providers (RSPs), but the RSPs are busy telling customers that it’s all the fault of NBN Co; this blame-game is incredibly frustrating, and it’s preventing people from getting access to quality broadband.
“We were contacted last week by a Winterfold Road resident who had been without a home phone or internet since March due to a fault with the copper wire. He was finally reconnected after my office contacted NBN Co.”
Mr Wilson also criticised the Federal Government’s choice of fibre to node rather than fibre to the premises, meaning the quality of broadband varied depending on distance from the node.
Some are with no effective access to NBN he claimed.
“These are called ‘service class zero’ households, and the number is rising by about 2000 a week,” Mr Wilson said.
A spokeswoman for NBN confirmed a technician attended Mr Carson’s home on July 14 to check all services from the street and up the wall sockets inside the house were working, as any problems beyond the wall socket are the responsibility of the RSP.
A loose connection was repaired by an NBN technician.
She said NBN used a range of technologies in the rollout including fibre to basement, fixed wireless, and sky muster satellite in addition to fibre to node, and fibre to premises.
“The technology type for each neighbourhood is determined by our design team who base their decisions on a range of factors including the state and extent of the existing infrastructure, access to the local exchange and location of the premises,” she said.
TPG, which owns iiNet, did not respond to questions from the Cockburn Gazette by deadline.
NBN inquiry continues
There is a Commonwealth Parliamentary inquiry currently looking at the rollout of the National Broadband Network.
Acting State Innovation and ICT Minister Simone McGurk said the Joint Standing Committee last week heard how many WA households and businesses were experiencing delays in being connected to the NBN, unreliable service delivery and slower speeds than expected at a higher cost.
“This government will continue to argue for West Australian households and businesses to have access to the best infrastructure and technologies available,” Ms McGurk said.
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