By Priscilla Moca
Bacchus Marsh residents who are unable to connect to the NBN may now have faster internet speeds, after additional ADSL ports were added to the Bacchus Marsh exchange.
Telstra south-west Victoria manager Bill Mundy said the “demand-driven” works were undertaken in the past six months and had just been completed.
“It’s difficult to put a number on how many residents or businesses it will benefit, as we don’t know how many will take advantage of it in future,” Mr Mundy said.
He said the upgrades would bring more consistent and higher internet speeds when using broadband and enable services such as digital television.
“It’s there to provide ADSL support for those who can’t get the NBN in the area,” he said.
More than 1000 houses and businesses in Bacchus Marsh have been connected to the NBN in the past year, with 400 yet to be connected.
Bacchus Marsh resident and business owner, Malcolm Trask, who switched to the NBN about six months ago, said it had been a great improvement.
“It’s been a really smooth transition, we haven’t had one outing,” he said. “Our business is 70 per cent web-based, and it’s meant a boost in productivity.”
Mr Trask said the only issues he’d heard about the fibre roll-out were related to the service providers rather than the service itself.
“A neighbour of mine is with one of the smaller providers and they can’t help him,” he said. “They haven’t got their act together and some still don’t even have plans to manage the transition.”
