NEARLY 40,000 Victorian homes won’t get access to the National Broadband Network after the Abbott Government pulled the plug on half a million homes on the rollout list.
Carlton, Frankston, Brunswick, Footscray, Yarraville, Noble Park, Werribee, South Morang, Keysborough and Melbourne Airport are part of 17 suburbs in the state with premises no longer scheduled to be connected to fast internet.
Homes and businesses in more than 300 suburbs are affected across the country.
Opposition Communications spokesman Jason Clare accused the Prime Minister of breaking his word to honour existing contracts before the election.
“This week Tony Abbott and (Communications Minister) Malcolm Turnbull have pulled the plug on half a million homes and businesses that were expecting to receive fibre to the home,” he said.
“They are the first victims of the Coalition’s cuts to the NBN.”
But Mr Abbott said the old maps were misleading, as all they indicated was that planning had begun for connection “some time in the far distant future”.
“The whole NBN was based on misleading assertions and promises that were constantly being made and constantly being broken.”
He said the maps were simply being straight with people.
“For the first time in its existence, there is now honesty about the NBN.”
The Coalition’s plans are to fix fast fibre to nodes on the street and connect people’s homes to those through the old copper network.
That will replace work instigated by Labor that laid fibre to the home for faster speeds but at a higher cost to taxpayers.
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Source: News Corp.