In recent weeks the NBN team have been working in the streets of the Walcha township where we will have a mix of fibre to the kerb (FTTC) and fibre to the node(FTTN)  – depending on the street. While installers say the new service overall will be an improvement to the current offering just how much of an improvement depends on how far away your premises are from the distribution point, i.e. how much copper wire you rely on versus fibre. 

FTTC is new technology that will be added to the NBN rollout mix from 2018 onwards. NBN say the FTTC is one step deeper into the network than FTTN, where fibre typically stops around 400 metres from premises. 

In April 2018, more than 2000 premises in Walcha and Uralla will receive the NBN, followed by a further 2000 homes in Werris Creek and Tenterfield in August.

Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, highlighted that 59,603 New England premises are already “ready for service” according to the latest report on October 5.

“This is great news for people in the New England,” Mr Joyce said.

“It’s good for business, good for education and it’s good for families.

“This technology is going make our lives a lot easier in the years to come as more services are moved online, some exclusively.” 

In total, there are 11,982 connections under construction and an additional 13,730 in planning throughout the New England.

Eventually, existing services will be disconnected following the installation of the NBN.

“When the NBN rolls out into an area, you have 18 months to transition to a new NBN service, and I encourage all residents with a service available to do so, “ Mr Joyce said.