The rollout of the National Broadband Network (nbn) in Hobart is now 50% complete and the latest fixed wireless tower has been switched on in Neika, parliamentary secretary to the minister for communications Paul Fletcher MP announced.

“This is a significant milestone for the nbn rollout in Hobart, with half of the premises in the city now able to connect to the network,” said Mr Fletcher. “Just outside the city, nbn’s latest fixed wireless tower has now been activated, and Tasmania will be the first state in Australia to see the nbn rollout completed by June 2018.”

Today, six service area modules (SAMs) have been completed in Hobart, deploying fibre to the premise (FTTP) technology to 14,500 premises in the areas of Hobart City, Battery Point, Sandy Bay, North Hobart, Glebe, South Hobart, West Hobart, and Dynnynre. nbn has announced that a further 6 SAMs in Hobart are actively under construction or planning.

The nbn rollout is also progressing at pace across the greater Hobart region. Today, 15 SAMs have been completed across the region with over 34,000 premises ready for service, with a further 13 SAMs actively under construction or planning. The remainder of the rollout is due to begin construction before the end of 2016. In total, over 83,000 premises will be connected to the nbn across greater Hobart.

Nbn recently announced that it will embark on a significant recruitment and training drive which will double the current national construction workforce to 9,000 – with an estimated 200 new employees coming on board in Tasmania to complete the rollout across the state.

Mr Fletcher also announced that Tasmania’s latest nbn fixed wireless tower had been switched on at Neika just outside of Hobart, and that residents of several mountain communities were now able to purchase high-speed fixed wireless broadband services.

There are now 10 fixed wireless towers either operational or under construction in the region between Fern Tree and Mountain River, covering some 2,600 premises. The final tower covering the area around Fern Tree is due to be completed in mid-2016.

“Nbn’s fixed wireless network offers wholesale speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) down and 5 Mbps up, and nbn is currently conducting a nationwide pilot of 50/20Mbps maximum wholesale speed,” Mr Fletcher said. “Nbn fixed wireless users are currently consuming nearly 70GB of data per month on average, and customer satisfaction is very high for fixed wireless services.”

There are now more than 90 fixed wireless towers in operation across Tasmania, covering over 27,000 premises.

Currently around 40,000 homes and businesses in Tasmania have an active nbn connection. The nbn is being connected at a rate of 800 premises on average every week across Tasmania, a 240 per cent increase on the rollout rate one year ago.