BALLARAT has been touted as one of the first regional cities to benefit from the National Broadband Network’s super-fast internet speeds.
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But half the city won’t get it any time soon – and possibly not at all.
As the first high speed fibre-optic cables are laid under Ballarat streets, concerns have been raised about a city of haves and have nots when it comes to internet broadband.
Construction on the $36 billion infrastructure project is under way in central Ballarat, as well as to the east and the north.
But it’s the parts of Ballarat to the city’s west and south that face the possibility of being left behind depending on the polices of the major political parties.
Software developer Troy Mcilvena said there could be a split between those that have fibre connected to their homes and those that don’t, a key difference between Labor and the Coalition.
He said it could impact property values in the suburbs that miss out as well as their ability to attract businesses.
“Some suburbs are going to get this boost of infrastructure but at the same time you’re leaving behind some of those others. It just creates more inequality,” he said.
As well as Ballarat Central, areas around Soldiers Hill, Ballarat East and Black Hill will soon receive the much-touted fibre capable of speeds of up to one gigabit a second.
Areas around Wendouree, Alfredton and Sebastopol are not listed in the current rollout plan by NBN Co and will not begin construction before July 2015.
Inside the rollout zone
Karl McNamara lives in a part of Lake Wendouree where construction has commenced on the fibre-optic cable NBN rollout.
He currently has ADSL2, which he uses to download music and TV shows, as well as for studying.
He said he was looking forward to signing up to NBN fibre when it became available.
"I've already said I would to my wife. I'm frustrated with the download speeds. Around 5pm it's quite ridiculously slow," he said.
A geologist with the Castlemaine Goldfields in Mt Clear, Mr McNamara said he was happy "for selfish reasons" to have a house in the rollout area.
He said he was waiting to see if the NBN was "all it's cracked up to be" before getting too excited.
"I have friends in Brunswick who are very happy with it. So I'll see what it's like before I go gloating to people."
Outside the rollout zone
Shona Gull's house is a stone's throw from the current NBN fibre rollout area in Lake Wendouree but she says she's not that bothered.
"I'm not an expert on the topic, but I just feel that at the speed technology moves it's just a waste of money if it changes," she said.
She said she currently had ADSL, which was more than enough for her work and web browsing needs.
"How much quicker can the internet be? You click a website and go straight in," she said.
Rural people needed better internet access, she said, but closer to the city there were other options.
"I'm not that fussed if it's not in my street, because I'm happy with my internet speed."
A Liberal voter, she also believed the benefits of the NBN hadn't been explained very well.
"It's a political popularity thing that's aimed at making themselves look good," she said.
The federal government says it will finish the NBN as planned, meaning the suburbs to the west and south of Ballarat will get fibre eventually if Labor is re-elected later this year.
The Coalition says it will only complete the construction of fibre-to-the-premise where it has been contracted, with concerns that will create a digital divide.
Mr Mcilvena said the suburbs not part of the initial fibre rollout won’t have the same access to educational resources and healthcare services as those with the fastest technology.
As a resident of Ballarat North, Mr Mcilvena lives in an area that will be connected to fibre by the end of the year.
He said businesses are increasingly relying on cloud-based software and data, meaning they might seek to move their premises if the broadband isn’t up to speed.
“If you look at it from the consumer point of view if you’ve got improved access to entertainment that becomes desirable,” he added.
NBN Co has stressed that engineering factors are the reason for some suburbs of Ballarat getting fibre before others.
Paramedic Barry Brennan lives in a part of Lake Wendouree which, according to the NBN rollout map, falls just outside the area about to get fibre broadband.
A big supporter of the NBN, he was philosophical about missing out but said the Coalition had no commitment to high speed broadband.
“What they’ll roll out will be a shadow of what it should and could be, it’s not a patch on what Labor will provide us,” he said.
“As far as missing out by a street, I guess someone’s got to.”
George Fong, vice president of the Internet Society of Australia, said suburbs like Wendouree had access to other forms of internet including cable that provided decent speeds.
“There is an argument that they have had access to high speed broadband technology well ahead of the rest of Ballarat for sometime now,” he said.
Trevor Booth, director of Ray White Ballarat, said he was waiting to see the take-up rate of the NBN before attributing any possible price difference in properties.
The difference between Labor and Coalition policies
Labor wants to install fibre-optic cable into the premises of 93 per cent of Australians, allowing for the possibility of speeds of up to one gigabit a second.
Locations which are too remote for the fibre roll out will be connected to the NBN through wireless and satellite services which can offer speeds of 25 megabits per second.
The key cost of the massive $36 billion infrastructure project is installing fibre into every premise, with Labor arguing that it will future-proof Australia's communication needs.
Laying fibre across the country means the roll out will be a slow process, with the current expected completion date set for 2020.
The Coalition is yet to make its broadband policies clear but it has said it will install fibre to the street instead of each premise because it is cheaper.
Opposition spokesman for communications Malcolm Turnbull has said the Coalition would deliver high speed broadband sooner and more cheaply than Labor.
"Fibre to the premise is the superior technological solution in terms of getting the max amount of bandwidth but it is hugely expensive," he told a Ballarat function recently.
Ballarat MP Catherine King said the Coalition's plan would see some people miss out on the fastest internet speeds.
"What it means is you have a digital divide and that's what we've been trying to stop in this country," she said.
tom.cowie@fairfaxmedia.com.au
