In an era where the internet has become an indispensable part of daily life, Greater Shepparton’s network speeds are set to receive a boost.
On Friday, March 22, NBN announced that its fibre upgrade in Greater Shepparton was 95 per cent complete.
About 23,600 homes and businesses across the region can now connect to full fibre under a national NBN upgrade program.
This means that anybody who may have experienced slower speeds during peak periods, dropouts or an inability to order a speed plan above 50 megabytes per second should no longer have these issues or have them significantly reduced if they upgrade to fibre.
NBN Local head Chris Cusack said it was an exciting announcement for residents.
“We know people across Australia are doing a lot more over the internet,” Mr Cusack said.
“We are consuming more and more data, with a tenfold increase in data usage over the NBN in the last 10 years.
“We’re forecasting that doubling over the next seven years.
“Eighty-seven per cent of the download traffic across Australia is carried across the NBN.
“It’s important we keep pace with that.”
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said it was an important announcement for both residents and businesses.
“We know Greater Shepparton is expanding, not only from a residential perspective,” Cr Sali said.
“We’re backed by big industry here, and we know how important high-speed internet connection is for them through their modernisation programs they’re rolling out across a number of different industries.
“High-speed internet has never been more important, especially after the last couple of years we’ve experienced.
“A lot more things are happening away from central locations, so it’s important to have that high-speed internet available, whether that is at work or at home.”
Mr Cusack said the full fibre internet would make the internet and communications more reliable when needed most, making the entire network more “resilient”.
He said NBN knew places such as Shepparton were more prone to natural disasters and that full fibre would be more effective and “quicker to recover” during floods.
“People in Greater Shepparton are now going to be able to access higher speeds over our direct fibre network,” Mr Cusack said.
“All they need to do is reach out to their retail internet service provider, check on their speed plans, ensure they can take up the highest speed possible and we’ll be able to come in and install that fibre into their premises.”