While Armidale in New South Wales will become the first Australian city to enjoy the light-speed benefits of the National Broadband Network any time now, thousands of Australians in the rural areas will continue to endure worse Internet connection services through the years.

According to reports, come 2020, 93 per cent of homes and businesses in Australia are promised the advantages of superfast Internet links.

However, this can not be a dream come true to those who live in new housing estates as Telstra only provided them with wireless telephones which care not able to connect to the Internet. This is because Telstra is hesitant to install copper networks on new estates of fewer than 100 houses in the interim.

Alec Downs, a resident in the middle of suburban Melbourne, was advised by Telstra that he can not get copper connection until the National Broadband Network comes through.

“You know the National Broadband Network is set to roll out its optic fiber over a course of years, so I could be on this situation for two years or five years or more,” Downs said as he learned that the NBN connection has no ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) leaving him to his current limited Internet access.

Telstra has distributed wireless phones to almost 200 houses around Australia. Insiders of the telecommunications industry report that the number is expected to increase dramatically as many new estates are built every year.

Telstra remains hesitant to install copper networks for the mean time as these will soon become obsolete the NBN’s optic fiber rolls out. NBN Co is required by the government to provide to estates made up of more than 100 premises.

Stephen Albin, Urban Development Institute of Australia's chief executive, says, “Consumers in regional Australia are more likely to be caught in this NBN limbo.”