The digital divide between those living in outer suburbs such as Wyndham and Melbourne’s inner city is worsening.
That was the conclusion of federal Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland during her visit to Werribee last week.
According to the National Broadband Network’s online roll-out map, only very small sections of Wyndham have been connected to the network. It is available in patches of Wyndham Vale to the north of Bulban Road and in small sections of Werribee and Point Cook. The build has commenced in other patches of Werribee, while large sections of Williams Landing have already been connected.
The NBN is almost non-existent in Hoppers Crossing and Tarneit. In Werribee South, the section around Wyndham Harbour has been connected.
According to the NBN’s most recent plan, released in October last year, a further 11,300 properties will be connected in Point Cook by 2018 via “fibre to the node”. Another 4200 properties in Werribee and Wyndham Vale will be connected by 2018 using the same FTTN technology, while 15200 properties in Hoppers Crossing have been slated to be connected via hybrid fibre co-axial technology this year.
Visiting Werribee on Thursday, Ms Rowland said the digital divide was getting bigger due to a lack of will by the government to fix the issue.
“People are moving to new areas like this, and assume there is gas, water, electricity and internet – it’s become a utility,” she said. “It’s difficult to function in a society without that connectivity – it affects the quality of life.”
Lalor MP Joanne Ryan said she was concerned about opportunities being missed by Wyndham businesses because of a lack of connectivity. She said small businesses could be leaving Wyndham and moving to suburbs with better internet access, taking away local jobs.
She also pointed to the fact that Werribee South market gardens had no access to quick and reliable internet, which could have a negative effect on the businesses.
A spokesperson for the Department of Communications and the Arts said Wyndham has not been left behind in the NBN roll-out.
“These results are in line with the government’s policy that the network is rolled out as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.
