The nbn™ information sessions held on the islands last month were well supported and answered many questions for islanders.
The sessions were run by the nbn™ communications team of Darryl McMillan and Linda Herden.
The sessions were held at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island as well as Macleay and Russell Islands.
Linda Herdern said all the sessions had been well supported.
“There were many good questions that we were able to answer and, hopefully, provide some peace of mind for islanders.”
She said it was important for islanders to know that the nbn™ were responsible for all the infrastructure into the home.
“We are contractually obliged by the Government to provide a minimum 25/5 service to Australian homes. That means 25 megabytes of download and 5 megabytes of upload.”
To launch the nbn™ to the islands, a special Smoking Ceremony was held at Point Lookout several weeks ago.
Cable laying crews have just started in recent days installing fibre on the islands with work on North Stradbroke Island to be the first to see cable laid.
It won’t be until the end of this year that crews get to network builds on the remaining islands.
It is estimated that the nbn™ service on the islands will ready for use by June 2020.
It generally takes around six to nine months from the start of construction until people can order services over the nbn™ access network.
All negotiations re connection to the nbn™ are required via the various carriers, not the nbn™
As for the type of connections coming to the islands, it will vary.
It will be either Fibre to the Node, or Fibre to the Curb, depending on your address.
The nbn™ communications team said nodes will be ‘added’ where required on the islands to provide the promised service.
They are likely to be in place at approximately 1 km intervals, with no home no further than 500 metres from a node.
The communications team said that the nodes link into the existing copper network to the home.
They made the point that if the copper links were not up to standard, they would be upgraded to ensure reliability of the service standard demanded by the Federal Government.
A breakdown of island connections will be:
• Karragarra Island, Lamb Island and Macleay Island 2,400 premises will consist of 1,000 FttN (fibre to the node) and 1,400 FttC (fibre to the curb)
• Russell Island 1,600 premises 300 FttN and 1,300 FttC
• Coochiemudlo Island 700 premises 200 FttN and 500 FttC
• North Stradbroke – Dunwich 500 premises 400 FttN and 100 FttC
• North Stradbroke – Amity, Point Lookout 1,600 premises 1,100 FttN and 500 FttC
BEWARE! SCAMS INCREASING ON ISLANDS WITH nbn™ ROLLOUT
A number of island residents have reported that they have received calls that are undoubtedly ‘scams’ surrounding the nbn™
They appear to be automated calls claiming to be from the nbn™ and saying that phone/ internet is going to be disconnected.
One island resident told the Friendly Bay Islander that he had received four calls in just one day.
He told us: “And I know of others receiving them as well.”
The nbn™ addressed scams at recent sessions held on North Stradbroke, Russell and Macleay Islands.
In fact, so numerous have scams surrounding the nbn™ become, the nbn™ has launched nbn™ National Scam Awareness Week.
The nbn™ has announced that scams have become so prevalent that reports are being made to the nbn™ call centre at the rate of 100 complaints a day!
The nbn™ have revealed scammers are increasing their efforts to take advantage of the nbn™ brand as a way to steal people’s personal or financial details and using increasingly sophisticated ways to convince people of their legitimacy.
Not only that, in June of this year, ACCC data from its SCAMWatch arm indicated consumers had lost an average of more than $110,000 each month between January and May of 2019 from scammers purporting to be from nbn™ , compared with around $38,500 in monthly average losses throughout 2018 – an increase of nearly 300 per cent.
The report indicated people aged over 65 were particularly vulnerable, receiving the majority of calls and losing more than $330,000 this year.
The nbn™ said in recent days:” We want to help ensure Australians aren’t confused or deterred from making the switch, which is why it’s never been more important for residents to understand how to connect to the nbn, as well as how we communicate with the public during the rollout.
We have been asked to publish the nbn™ Co’s top tips for protecting yourself against scammers:
• Visit NBN Co’s website at www.nbn.com.au/scamadvice
for information on how to identify and avoid potential scammers or for advice if you suspect you have been scammed.
• Remember NBN Co is a wholesaler, which means we do not sell phone or internet services directly to the public. People need to contact their preferred phone and internet provider in order to make the switch.
• Do not share your financial information ((i.e. bank, credit card or gift card details) or personal details with an unsolicited caller or door knockers trying to seek payment for an nbn™ service.
• Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer or devices via the installation of programs, such as Team Viewer.
• NBN Co does not make automated calls, such as robocalls, to advise of disconnections to nbn or existing copper phone line services. Please do not engage with these calls.
• If in doubt, hang up and call your retail service provider on their official customer service centre number to check if the call is legitimate. Do not use contact details supplied by the caller.