A lack of infrastructure maintenance is to blame for poor internet service in the Maitland area, an information technology expert says.
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David Campbell works in computer network security and has spent time as an employee of a small internet service provider in Melbourne.
He now lives in East Maitland, about 100 metres outside the boundary of the National Broadband Network rollout.
Mr Campbell said every time it rained, his internet service became unreliable. “It’s a bit rough. Every time it rains, the internet drops out,” he said.
“It gets half way through loading a page and then stops.
“It’s more annoying than having no internet at all.”
Mr Campbell said a lack of maintenance of telecommunication pits and old copper wire being used to provide internet to the region’s homes were to blame for poor service across the region.
His comments come after news that Maitland has been overlooked for a fast-tracked NBN rollout in the Hunter.
NBN Co announced this week that 155,000 more premises in 99 suburbs across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast would have access to the high-speed broadband in the next 12 months.
Despite community outcry in recent months about the poor quality of internet service in the Maitland region, the city and surrounding suburbs were not included in the rollout list.
Work to deliver the NBN in parts of East Maitland, Morpeth and Tenambit began in July.
But most of the region has not yet been included on NBN Co’s future work schedule.
Mr Campbell said this was disappointing.
“There is a big need, to improve reliability, to replace the copper,” he said.
NBN Co chief customer officer John Simon said the rollout was a trial to test planning, design and construction of fibre-to-the-node technology.
“The early experiences of consumers and businesses on our trials demonstrate that existing technologies are capable of playing a vital role in delivering the NBN quicker, more efficiently and more cost effectively for all Australians,” Mr Simon said.