The National Broadband Network headquarters will be located in Melbourne, communications minister Stephen Conroy announced today, with the state beating out rival bids from Queensland and New South Wales for the project.
The announcement comes as the first NBN customers in Tasmania have reportedly had their services switched on, with one user on the Whirlpool forum even posting graphics of speed tests showing download rates of over 100Mpbs.
Conroy announced in a statement today the Network Operations Centre will be based in Melbourne, and will act as the “nerve centre” of the NBN.
“When fully operational, the Network Operations Centre will be the nerve centre of the NBN, and will employ around 425 professional and technical staff,” he said.
“The Network Operations Centre will assist in making sure customers who connect to the NBN have a robust and reliable experience.”
The Network Operations Centre will take orders from retail service providers, coordinate fault repairs and provisioning, manage network traffic and provide data for billing purposes.
The operations hub is not a temporary headquarters for construction – it is the operational centre that will control the network for several years, even when the network is fully operational.
“NBN Co. chose Melbourne as the location for the Network Operations Centre because its engineering and technology operations are based here,” Conroy said.
“Design and fit-out of the Network Operations Centre has begun and the site will be redeveloped and operational by the end of this year.”
The decision comes after months of rivalry between the east-coast states. Each has attempted to convince the Federal Government that it should build the headquarters in its own capital city due to various innovation projects.
There was even some talk last year of the operations centre being split between a number of states, but today’s announcement seems to negate those reports. The Operations Centre will be solely based in Melbourne, according to Conroy.
Additionally, the first NBN customers appear to be even closer to having their services switched on. Conroy said Tasmanian residents in early testing areas are being alerted their services will be active within weeks.
“Residents and businesses in the Tasmanian Stage 1 communities of Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point are gearing up to be the first in the country to have access to the NBN. I welcome the enthusiasm of those communities in embracing these new opportunities.”
But some users already appear to be enjoying the benefits of the network’s high speeds. Whirlpool user “Bob of Midway Point” has written that his connection has already been hooked up, and he is enjoying speeds of well above 50Mpbs.
“My NBN connection is love… and it absolutely flys! [sic]” he posted. The customer also linked to a number of speed test results, showing he is enjoying download rates of above 100Mpbs and an upload rate of about 6 Mpbs.
However, he clarified that he is recording a more average rate of about 50-60Mbps.
The two retailers offering early NBN plans, iiNet and Primus, both offer a variety of plans with different speeds, so not all customers will enjoy the maximum 100Mpbs speeds by default.
But despite today’s announcement by the Government, the future of the NBN could be in doubt. Coalition leader Tony Abbott has repeatedly said a Liberal government would dismantle the NBN and cancel all further projects if it wins Government in the upcoming election.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
