and how many has it actually signed up? 30000 (16%)
and tony windsor? he doesnt even own a computer so what the hell would he know - oh heather you poor innocent thing you...
THE NBN Co has hit its politically crucial June 30 rollout target, passing more than 207,000 homes and businesses. But more than one quarter of those are unable to order a service on the superfast fibre network.
The NBN Co has revealed that as of June 30, it had passed 163,500 existing homes and businesses and 44,000 new housing estates with the National Broadband Network.
But of those passed by the fibre footprint only 33,600 homes and businesses, or 16 per cent of premises, have signed up to a service.
In addition to the low take-up rate, the NBN Co's rollout figures also contain as many as 55,000 premises called "service class zero" which although contained in the fibre footprint, are not considered serviceable for another 12-18 months.
These typically include apartments, town houses and shopping centres,
According to the NBN Co's 2012 Corporate Plan, a premise is considered passed "when the shared network and service elements are installed, accepted, commissioned and ready for service which then enables an End-User to order and purchase a broadband service from their choice of retail service provider".
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An NBN Co spokesman, however, said that "service class zero" premises have always been included in its rollout statistics.
"We use the accepted industry definition of 'Premises Passed' - that is homes and businesses passed by an active telecommunications network," NBN Co spokesman Andrew Sholl said.
"That standard measure includes those complex premises that will receive services over the NBN outside standard order lead times."
But Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said today the NBN's rollout figures could not be trusted.
"The fact that almost a quarter of houses included in the NBN Co's 'ready for service' list can't actually access an active service shows the depths that Labor would go to in its attempt to convince the public that this project is still on track," Mr Turnbull told The Australian.
"These are not long range targets the NBN Co has to meet they were targets announced three months ago, having been revised down for the third time."
The release of NBN Co's rollout figures are also far below what was targeted when the NBN Co began building the network three years ago.
According to the company's first corporate plan, which was released in December 2010, NBN Co forecast it would have passed 1.2 million homes with its fibre footprint by June 30 this year and about 511,000 homes would be connected.
However, the rollout targets were revised down to 341,000 premises last August because of delays in finalising an $11bn deal to gain access to Telstra infrastructure and customers, and changes in the way NBN Co connects premises to the network.
Then in March this year NBN Co boss Mike Quigley was again forced to downgrade the network's rollout figures after admitting that difficulties in mobilising construction crews on the ground had led to a three-month delay.
In that revision NBN Co forecast it would pass between 190,000 and 220,000 premises with fibre by the end of June, targets that it today revealed had been met.
"These results are pleasing because they demonstrate that the steps we put in place in March to accelerate the rollout have been successful," Mr Quigley said in a statement.
"They also show that NBN Co, together with its industry partners, has the capacity to overcome the challenges inherent in rolling out Australia's largest national infrastructure project."
NBN Co also revealed it had passed 27,300 homes with fixed wireless services, less than half of the 70,000 premises it had planned to pass by June 30.
