The National Broadband Network was switched on in Melbourne this morning with the inner city suburb of Brunswick becoming the first metropolitan area in Australia to receive superfast fibre-based broadband. However, only 1405, or 52 per cent of the total 2689 premises covered in the Brunswick roll-out opted to have the NBN fibre connected to the home.

REIV Communications Manager Robert Larocca said that “under the Victorian Residential Tenancies
Act, tenants are unable to provide consent for the installation of the fibre optic cable; they need to seek the consent of the property owner or their representative.

“The REIV worked with NBN Co to help contact property owners for this rollout and, as a result, raised this issue with the State Government, Federal Government and NBN Co.

“In Brunswick there is a high number of renters and they needed to contact their landlords to get permission to have the service connected. It is unfortunate that this process has resulted in a reported 52 per cent of all homes being connected.

“One of the reasons Brunswick was chosen as a test site is the high number of renters. The low level of connections shows that the current process of opting in will not provide an efficient or effective outcome.

“It is interesting to note that the system for the installation of smart meters does not require consent, presumably as it is acknowledged that electricity supply is an essential service. How are telecommunication services different – especially when the fibre optic cable becomes the only mechanism with which to have a basic home phone service?

“Now that the Brunswick trial is live, an opt-out should be considered,” Mr Larocca concluded.