UNCLASSIFIED

Dear Ojas Mehta

FOI Request 18-1516 – Ojas Mehta

Thank you for submitting the following Freedom of Information (FOI) Request:

"Under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), I wish to access the documents which detail the plans and dates of commencement and completion, of NBN rollout for the suburb of Toongabbie (2146)."

Following the release of the NBN Co Limited (NBN Co) three year construction plan on 16 October 2015, the information you requested is now in the public domain. Accordingly, there is now no need to formally progress your request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 as the information about the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout schedule for the suburb of Toongabbie, New South Wales (postcode 2146) is provided below.

On 16 October 2015, NBN Co Limited (NBN Co) released its three year construction plan, providing a detailed rollout sequence to just over 9.1 million premises. The full list of communities where work is scheduled to begin before September 2018 is available on its website at www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/docu...

Some of the communities have already been covered in the previously announced 18 month plans. New developments and satellite services have not been included in the plan because they are, and will be, technologies demand driven in part by either developers or by the customer migration process onto the Long Term Satellite Service (LTSS).

The plan provides for the first time detailed information about the rollout of the Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) networks. Existing HFC cable networks will be upgraded and integrated into the NBN to almost three million premises across six Australian cities by September 2018. The three year plan also anticipates 5.6 million homes will have fixed line access, or an NBN connection under construction, through fibre to the node (FTTN), fibre to the building (FTTB), or fibre to the premises (FTTP) deployment. The Plan similarly indicates that the fixed wireless network will be complete by September 2018, covering a further 540,000 premises and making up an estimated five per cent of the network.

The plan demonstrates the continued momentum of the rollout with construction work underway to expand the current network of more than 1.3 million premises across the country and the almost 630,000 homes and businesses already connected and enjoying the benefits of fast broadband.

You will be pleased to learn that around 23,900 homes and business in the Pendle Hill area [Fibre Service Area (FSA) – 2PEN], including the locality of Toongabbie, will be covered in a HFC deployment under the three year construction schedule, commencing in the second half of 2017. The relevant information is on page 11 of the ‘Three Year Construction Plan’ document.

As with all construction projects, detailed planning and design influences the timing of activity. NBN Co intends to update the forward plan every three months to provide further clarity on the detail of its construction schedule ahead of the rollout activity set to occur in the subsequent quarter. This way, households, businesses, service providers and local governments can prepare for the arrival of the new broadband network.

You can be assured that the Australian Government is committed to ensuring the public has as much reliable information about the rollout as possible, and will look for opportunities to provide further certainty.

In the meantime, I encourage you to monitor the NBN Co website, particularly via its blog at www.nbn.com.au/blog.html for network updates and all matters operational, as well as registering your interest about being notified when you will be able to connect to the new broadband network at www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home-or-busines...

In light of the information provided above, your FOI request 18-1516 will be taken to be withdrawn unless you advise otherwise by cob 2 November 2015.

Yours sincerely

Kylie Browne
Legal Director Regulatory | Office of General Counsel
Phone   +61 2 6271 1134
Fax         +61 2 6271 1012
[mobile number]
[email address]
www.communications.gov.au

Department of Communications and the Arts
Level 3, 38 Sydney Avenue, Forrest ACT 2603
GPO Box 2154 Canberra ACT 2601

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