Internet service provider Internode has got in on the ground floor with the National Broadband Network (NBN) test site in Willunga, Adelaide, signing up its first customer, PCRange chief executive officer Raaj Menon.
NBN Co's trial will be extended to 100 Willunga premises over the next two months.
According to Internode, Menon moved to Willunga in February 2011 in order to get early access to an NBN broadband service. He said in a statement that his NBN test service had worked immediately.
“At the moment, I’m downloading from newsgroups at nine megabytes per second, with Speedtest showing 95.5Mbps [megabits per second] downstream and 35.5 upload speed," Menon said.
“Broadband Internet access is the lifeblood of my business, so I intend to put the NBN through its paces. Internode has provided me with an NBN connection that runs at 100 megabits per second downstream and 40Mbps upstream. I’m using a router which can handle that kind of throughput, so it’ll be interesting to see if I get close to those speeds on the local mirror."
Internode managing director ,Simon Hackett, said that the ISP was determined to be first with the NBN in every new area that it rolled out in.
"We are actively involved with the NBN in both Tasmania and Armidale as a retail service provider, and our NBN customers in Tasmania range from residential customers to businesses, schools and community organisations."
Willunga is one of five first release sites on mainland Australia selected by NBN Co. The other locations are west Armidale, in NSW, part of Brunswick in Melbourne, the Townsville suburbs of Aitkenvale and Mundingburra; and the coastal communities of Minnamurra and Kiama Downs, south of Wollongong in NSW.
According to an NBN Co spokesperson, Menon was technically the first person to connect to the NBN in Willunga.
"We are connecting more customers this week and planning to make an announcement in a few weeks time," she said.
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