Fed-up Parramatta residents say more needs to be done to address the issue of slow NBN, as some experience download speeds five times below the legal minimum standard.
For some areas around the region, the wait for NBN connection was a long one, with parts of the Parramatta CBD, Harris Park and Rosehill still remaining unconnected until 2022.
Dundas Valley resident Wanda Whittaker said her family were thrilled to finally receive the NBN last year.
However, since being connected, her speeds have ranged anywhere from five megabits per second (mbps) to 15.
A requirement of both the Australian Law and NBN Co’s Statement of Expectations is that the minimum standard download speed is 25mbps.
For residents like Ms Whittaker, the issue of slow speeds lies within the type of connection.
Parra News spoke with three different households experiencing issues, all of which were connected to the NBN with old copper technology. Technicians have informed these residents their wires are too old or they are too far away from the node.
Ms Whittaker said it has been really stressful for her family and she and her husband work from home and her son is studying remotely at TAFE NSW.
“Everyone trying to use it at once is impossible so we’ve had to use our phone plans and we’ve been out of pocket paying for extra data,” she said.
FTTN cabinets are typically located between five and 500 metres from a premise, with some exceptions seeing a node cabinet located up to 900 metres.
Parramatta resident Akhilesh Tripathi lives in an apartment block, 1200 metres away from the node and said it is impossible for his young family to watch videos or streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Federal Parramatta MP, Julie Owens said her office has been flooded with similar stories.
“The Coalition Government promised we’d all have NBN with speeds of at least 25mbps by 2016; then it was 2018, then 2020,” she told Parra News.
“Locals who are ‘fortunate’ enough to be connected are struggling with below minimum speeds.”
An NBN Co spokesperson said they are aware of a “small number” of customers experiencing issues with speeds and “understands that this can be frustrating”.
“The team is investigating and will work to identify a solution as quickly as possible to ensure we provide these residents with a great experience on the NBN,” the spokesperson said.
Last year the Federal Government announced it would spend $3.5 billion to rebuild the mixed-technology NBN with fibre for millions of homes and businesses across the country, following criticism of the copper network.
Over 200,000 Australians remain without minimum download speed.
Troy Dodds is Parra News' Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia’s leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.