The National Broadband Network (NBN) today went live in the rural town of Willunga, about 47 kilometres south of Adelaide.

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, was in Willunga today to officially switch on the network. At today’s launch Senator Conroy and the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, viewed a classroom of children receiving a viticulture lesson via the NBN.

Ms Janelle Reimann, Principal of Willunga High School, the first public school on the mainland to be connected to the NBN, said the high-definition video lessons her students can now receive via the NBN, as part of the trial, offers them a much improved educational experience.

“The high-definition videoconferencing our senior students can now have with viticulture experts has been made possible via the NBN. Students doing VET Certificate 1 Food Processing (Wine) can now interact with experts, like those from SA TAFE’s Regional Mount Barker Campus today, as if they were in the same room.

“Primary Industries and Resources South Australia estimate that the agriculture, food and wine industries together generate about $14 billion in annual revenue or 11 per cent of Gross State Product. Any improvements we make to the educational experience of our students in these fields could potentially enhance their job prospects in these industries,” Ms Reimann said.

The first release fibre network in Willunga covers 940 premises, with residents in approximately 91 per cent of properties having consented to the installation of optical fibre to their premises during construction to make them “NBN ready.”

With the network now live, Willunga will enter into a trial phase due to run until October, after which people in the First Release site will be able to order services from an eligible retail service provider (RSP) of their choice. Around 150 customers have already been connected as part of the trial in Willunga, and other service activations are in the queue.

NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley said: “Willunga is the fifth and final First Release Site for NBN Co to officially go live on the Australian mainland. We will work closely with a number of telecommunications and broadband service providers to develop the systems and processes that will support them as they deliver more services in the future.”