Frustrated resident calls out appalling NBN hinterland coverage

Landers Shoot resident Sean Clarke is calling for action on slow internet speeds in his area which he blames on the “appalling roll out of the NBN”.

“My family have lived at Landers Shoot (between Palmwoods and Maleny) for near 15 years,” he said. “It seems that the disregard for connectivity in the area has gotten worse, not better over the years. The lies and falsehoods proclaimed by successive governments have gotten to the point where Trump himself could learn lessons from the smoke and mirrors.

“For a service that promised minimum speeds of 25Mbps to all Australian households, we are lucky if we get 1Mbps. That is not at peak times. That is at quiet times including middle of the night.”

Mr Clarke said residents in the area were forced to consider satellite services which were very expensive and offered comparatively very limited and expensive data.

He has collected data showing internet speed tests from his laptop which he said told a “depressing story”.

“The norm is for less than 1Mbps - on rare occasions this jumps up to a couple of Mbps but there is no consistency whatsoever. This means working from home, phone calls, normal internet usage, online TV or movies and video calls with family members is severely impacted.

“What is the government doing about connectivity for those of us who continue to contribute taxes for a service that is hideously behind schedule, grossly overspent, ageing beyond capacity before full implementation, and that we are so infrequently able to connect to?”

Fisher MP Andrew Wallace said he had been working hard to secure NBN access for the Hinterland since his election in 2016. 

“During that time I have invited representatives of the nbn and the major telcos to meet with Hinterland residents at a series of community forums, I have brought the Minister for Communications to the Glass House Mountains to hear from Sunshine Coast locals about their concerns, and I have advocated on behalf of countless constituents with their telco or the nbn directly. Although many areas of the Hinterland are now able to access the service and achieve good speeds, unfortunately the provision of the nbn in some parts of the region has been frustrated by the fact that the local council and some sections of the community have been unwilling to allow the construction of fixed wireless nbn towers at the necessary locations. I would encourage Hinterland residents who are having difficulty accessing the nbn to contact their telco to discuss the alternatives that are available to them.  If those discussions do not bear fruit, then I encourage residents to contact me directly by phoning or emailing my office.”