NBN Co reveals NT and WA wasteland
The lastest weekly installment of NBN Co's rollout statistics have shown the pitiful state of NBN uptake in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Only six existing premises in the Northern Territory have activated an NBN-based service, from a total number of 304 brownfield premises able to be connected to the network, despite NBN Co being able to claim almost 4,500 existing premises as being "passed" by the network. The numbers are no better for fixed wireless, where 1,325 premises are covered, but only 89 have been activated.
For brownfield areas, the Territory has the dubious honour of having a service class zero percentage of 93.2 percent — NBN Co defines service class zero is a premises that is passed, but cannot order a service due to additional work needing to be completed, such as an extra cabling needed for an apartment block.
| Week ending 1st Dec 2013 | Total Activations | Greenfields | Serviceable Brownfields | Wireless | Service Level Zero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACT | 47.77% | 49.20% | 55.39% | - | 14.36% |
| NSW | 32.90% | 35.40% | 22.04% | 11.67% | 22.67% |
| NT | 20.19% | 31.96% | 1.97% | 6.72% | 93.20% |
| QLD | 27.18% | 35.89% | 19.99% | 7.60% | 39.44% |
| SA | 66.02% | 21.21% | 32.52% | - | 8.53% |
| TAS | 28.65% | 0.00% | 33.72% | 8.34% | 19.64% |
| VIC | 30.33% | 38.35% | 30.45% | 11.29% | 34.79% |
| WA | 39.33% | 25.65% | 9.55% | 8.81% | 60.66% |
Joining the Northern Territory with a majority of brownfield premises unable to connect to the NBN is Western Australia, with the state coming in with a service class zero percentage if 60.66 percent. The state has 10,567 premises passed, but only 4,157 are counted as servicable.
Only 397 brownfield premises in Western Australia have activated an NBN service, and of the 1,248 premises covered by fixed wireless, a paltry 110 have taken up the NBN.
The percentage of serviceable brownfield sites that have taken up the NBN are highest in the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, South Australia.
Following that trio is Victoria, which is the only state or territory to have over 10,000 premises activated in greenfield sites, and has the highest number of fixed wireless customers with just over 2,000 users.
The state with the highest level of fixed wireless penetration is New South Wales with a mere 11.67 percent of premises covered activating a service. NSW has the highest number of satellite users with 14,628 and nearly the same number of brownfield users with 14,319 services activated. Approximately 65,000 brownfield premises are serviceable in NSW.
The latest rollout update showed that throughout the entire nation, NBN Co has now activated 120,000 premises. Of that total, over 43,000 are satellite customers, just over 5,000 are using fixed wireless, almost 25,000 are greenfield premises, and the remaining 47,000 are existing brownfield locations.
No change in the overall trends of the rollout, increasing uptake of all service types and lowering the percentage of premises counted as service level zero, was revealed in the statistics.
Since the earliest weekly figures produced by NBN Co for the week ending July 7 of this year, the network has passed an extra 113,000 premises with fibre, covered approximately an additional 26,000 premises with fixed wireless, and connected an extra 8,000 satellite customers.