No super fast broadband

BROADBAND activist Roger Hilton is continuing his quest to find out why super-fast ADSL broadband is not coming to Narooma.
The last article in the Narooma News stated Telstra was not going to provide ADSL2+ service to Narooma even though Moruya and Tuross were getting the service, because of a lack of competition.
Telstra and its main competitor the OPEL consortium have however indicated they were going to provide the wireless WIMAX service to Narooma.
This is a high-speed broadband system though not as fast as ADSL2+ and being a radio system, could be prone to dropouts, particularly given the hilly terrain.
Mr Hilton has picked up on a speech by the head of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission stating Telstra has ADSL technology covering 91 per cent of the population and that all exchanges could be readily upgraded to provide ADSL2+ and yet only 46 per cent of the population is covered.
Mr Hilton said other providers have the ability to install their own “DSLAMS” in exchanges such as Narooma and are doing it in some locations to provide ADSL/ADSL2+.
“So it remains a mystery why the Optus/Elders consortium, OPEL have decided to go the WiMax route in this town.
According to the government, WiMax (supposedly) has a range of 50km although probably more like 20km, depending on the terrain, which would have an advantage over ADSL2+ with its maximum range of between three and seven kilometres from the exchange.
“OPEL probably want to service areas beyond this distance from the township, so maybe this is the reason?
If so, why isn’t it going to be used in the other locations?” he asked.
Source: narooma.yourguide.com.au