Wyndham households face an even longer wait for high speed internet after the area was left off the latest NBN roll-out schedule.
No new Wyndham suburbs have been added to the network since 2013, despite parts of the municipality having trouble getting on to the internet due to a shortage of space in the ADSL exchanges.
Residents of large areas of Werribee, Wyndham Vale, Hoppers Crossing and Point Cook will now need to wait for the next roll-out to find out when the high-speed broadband network will be delivered in their area.
Lalor MP Joanne Ryan has raised the issue in Federal Parliament on several occasions and has written to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull asking when the rest of Wyndham will be connected to the NBN.
She also recently conducted a survey to gauge residents’ views on the issue.
“I have lobbied hard to ensure this community has access to quality broadband provisions. My recent survey shows we have a serious internet access problem,” Ms Ryan said.
“Most residents have no idea when the NBN will be coming to town and what kind of NBN it will be.”
The decision to leave Wyndham off the latest roll-out comes as residents living in areas already connected to the NBN claim they are waiting up to two months to have their service activated.
Manor Lakes resident Joao Canoquena was told his property would be connected to the network by the time he moved in. Two months on, he is still waiting for NBN Co to arrive and connect his house.
Mr Canoquena, who is completing his PhD, said not having internet access was putting him at a disadvantage.
“At our old address, there was no internet access or exchange space for us, so having internet was a high priority on our agenda when we were looking for land,” Mr Canoquena said.
NBN Co spokesman Michael Moore said there were more than 10,000 premises in Werribee and Wyndham Vale that could connect or would soon be connected to the network.
He said the coming release of a three-year construction plan would provide a clearer picture of when the roll-out would start in other parts of Melbourne’s west.
“In planning the roll-out, the Australian government expects us to prioritise those locations where there is poor service or no service at all; that’s generally in rural and remote areas,” he said.
