Peter Summers is one of many residents frustrated with his internet connection in Pakenham. 85700 Picture: MEGAN ROGERS
By Lilly O’Gorman
PAKENHAM’S notoriously slow internet is forcing businesses to move out of their premises to keep up with their competition.
And with no start date for the National Broadband Network rollout in Cardinia Shire, there seems no respite on the horizon.
According to the NBN website, there were seven “NBN ready estates” in Pakenham, but there was no set date on when the works are due to start.
A spokesperson for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy could not confirm when the NBN would be rolled out in Pakenham.
Central Ward Councillor Collin Ross said Pakenham’s internet service is “absolutely atrocious” for businesses and houses.
“If they’re not going to build the infrastructure then (the situation) is not going to improve. We desperately want NBN to be rolled out further,” he said.
“Students say they get cut off all the time and the speed at night-time goes down to just about dial-up speed. Businesses have said they’ve had to move their businesses out of Main Street Pakenham because they can’t get connection.
“I just don’t understand how the government can approve growth corridors without the infrastructure.”
Peter Summers said when he moved to Pakenham from Mentone two years ago, he felt like he had gone “back to the dark ages” when it came to his internet connection.
“It’s a marked difference. When I was in Mentone I was on cable internet. Now I am on ADSL I can’t get ADSL2, which means downloads are depressingly slow,” Mr Summers said.
“If there is a significant amount of other traffic going along from other households, this slows it down as well. There are times when haven’t been able to access the internet at all. It’s like going back to the dark ages.”
The home business owner says he’s concerned there won’t be an improvement to services any time soon.
“Essentially Telstra has a monopoly, because Optus doesn’t compete,” he said.
“This surprised me because Pakenham is a major growth area, and I thought Telstra and Optus would be dueling it out to improve market share.
A Telstra spokeswoman confirmed Telstra had received inquiries from Pakenham residents and business owners concerning internet speeds and access.
She said upgrades had been installed on five existing streetside cabinets which provide ADSL broadband services to nearby houses in Pakenham, the latest last month.
An Optus spokesman also confirmed “some issues” with the availability of fixed line infrastructure in the Pakenham area
“Optus is currently investigating options to provide fixed broadband services via the NBN in the Pakenham region,” the spokesman said.
The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy spokesman said every home, business, school and hospital in Australia will be connected to the National Broadband Network, including Pakenham and Cardinia Shire.
“The three year rollout announcement covers 3.5 million premises – but it’s only the beginning of a ten year rollout.
“The three-year rollout will be updated in early 2013, but ultimately no-one will miss out. Everyone will be able to access the benefits of the NBN.”
When the Gazette asked whether residents were having problems with their connection on our Facebook page, of the 89 responses the response was mixed.
Some, like Lee Tancredi had navigated through the problems, “We did with Optus. In the end we had to switch to Telstra because we couldn’t access the Internet during their ‘peak’ times. That was over two years ago, and we haven’t had a problem with Telstra.”
But residents in other areas encountered repeated problems.
“(We) can only get wireless in Lakeside. (It) has improved but it’s still slow. It’s like we are in a third world country here as we can’t get ADSL,” Craig Young wrote.
