In some streets in Blaxland, the internet is so slow families are tearing their hair out.
Ben Oxley is a teacher and he stays back at school to make a dent on his schoolwork because his home ADSL internet is loading at a snail’s pace. That’s when he has internet. Since December, the speed has dropped from 6-8 megabites per second to between 1-2 mps and since last week’s he’s been without the net all together.
Despite numerous visits from technicians from his service provider TPG, as well as Telstra, the speed has not improved and he’s been told not to expect another technician out until April 1.
“We are finding it difficult to meet the demands of our jobs as teachers as we can not effectively work from home,” Mr Oxley said.
“Across the road both university students living with their parents are also finding difficulty with study. Ourselves and our neighbours are fed-up with ... not being able to complete work and access the internet for streaming of TV.”
Ourselves and our neighbours are fed-up with ... not being able to complete work and access the internet for streaming of TV.
- Ben Oxley
Neighbour Steve Smith in Glen Street, is also with TPG and has had very slow internet since December, and says it can take 50 seconds for a page to load on screen. With kids at school, it affects their study time.
“Half the homework is online now,” Mr Smith said.
For both men, with families to support, paying double the price to go with Telstra is not an option.
“Am I going to get a better service?” they asked, believing their services used Telstra lines anyway.
“The issues in our area appear to be due to the Telstra infrastructure of copper cable and are exacerbated by wet weather,” Mr Oxley said.
Meanwhile neighbour Kevin Brett is thinking ahead to the arrival of the NBN and after hearing about problems in the Upper Mountains, he’s not sure he wants to sign up when it eventually arrives.
Mr Oxley said he would be logging his complaint with the Ombudsman this week.
A Telstra spokeswoman said it was a service provider problem. Telstra area general manager Tricia Wilson said flash flooding had damaged a cable on Thursday, affecting up to 100 Telstra customers at Blaxland, with services restored on Friday.
TPG did not respond to the Gazette’s request for comment.
A National Broadband Network
On 14 September 2016, pursuant to the agreement of the House of Representatives and the Senate,
A Joint Standing Committee has established an inquiry into the rollout of the NBN with final submissions due on March 31. To find out more go to nbn.joint@aph.gov.au.