Thousands of new Blue Mountains residents have a rollout date for their connection to the National Broadband Network (NBN) but Labor says it will deliver a substandard service that will dot residential streets with ugly "boxes".
In an accelerated rollout plan announced by the federal government last week, Mountains towns from Glenbrook to Woodford were listed to have NBN construction start in 2017. Towns from Lawson to Medlow Bath will have construction start next month while Blackheath and Mount Victoria have a 2016 start date.
Federal Member for Macquarie Louise Markus welcomed the announcement which followed local lobbying to include Lower Mountains towns in the rollout plans.
"Following my representations to the CEO of NBN, I am delighted with this outcome," Mrs Markus said.
But Labor's Macquarie spokeswoman Susan Templeman attacked the announcement for including later start dates for Hazelbrook and Woodford than previously promised by Mrs Markus.
She also attacked the fixed line technology used in the Blue Mountains rollout.
"We also now know that there will not be fibre to the front door of people's homes, but to a box on their street. There are so many downsides to this stop-gap approach which forces people to rely on an ageing copper network to their home," said Ms Templeman.
"One of the issues is how close you need to be to a box or node to get a decent improvement in speed - a short distance from the node to the home is an imperative."
Ms Templeman also said the boxes - which will be "about the size of a washing machine" - "are a magnet for graffiti and can't be hidden, will line our streets like a silent army, subject to rain, hail, heat and wind".
But Mrs Markus said the Coalition's plan will deliver the NBN to Blue Mountains earlier and for less cost than Labor's ever would have.
"Under the Coalition Government, the people of the Blue Mountains will have access to the NBN more than six to seven years earlier than under Labor's plan," said Mrs Markus.
"If the Labor spokesperson was so adamant about ensuring Blue Mountains residents had access to the NBN, why in their four years were the Blue Mountains not included in Labor's rollout plan?"
Mrs Markus said an an analysis of Labor's Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) model showed that it "wouldn't be finished until 2026 at the earliest and as late as 2028 and could cost as much as $84 billion".
"The Coalition Government's method of using existing copper and cable infrastructure running into homes, means NBN can complete the network far sooner and at a dramatically lower cost to taxpayers."
