Prime Minister Julia Gillard made history today after officially launching the National Broadband Network for the first time on mainland Australia.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Broadband, Senator Stephen Conroy, launched the NBN in the regional city of Armidale today in northern New South Wales.
Switching on the NBN on mainland Australia will offer unprecedented opportunities.
It will help create jobs, provide greater training options, support regional growth and improve health and education services across rural and regional Australia.
The Prime Minister said the NBN will end the tyranny of distance between rural and regional Australia and our capital cities - it will literally change the way Australians live and work.
By delivering a fibre to home connection, the NBN will:
* reduce the need to travel for health services;
* allow local businesses to reach new markets and create new job opportunities; and
* offer better access to education and training resources for young people.
The Prime Minister said residents and businesses in Armidale were the first on the mainland to get access to the NBN.
The Armidale NBN footprint will ultimately cover 4,882 premises, including the University of New England. There are around 2,900 premises covered excluding the University.
Senator Conroy said today's launch was an historic day for rural and regional Australia.
For decades people living in rural and regional areas have put up with slow, expensive and inadequate telecommunications services and that is changing from today.
Armidale has embraced the NBN with more than 87 per cent of people signing up to have fibre connected to their home or business.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicates the number of Australians who have never used the internet is higher in rural and regional areas.
31 per cent of people from non-metropolitan areas aged 15 and over did not use the internet from any location in 2008-09, compared with only 23 per cent of people in metropolitan areas.
The Prime Minister said the NBN will address this divide by providing affordable high speed broadband to every Australian premise.
It means people can stay in their home town and still get access to the health services, education and training and business opportunities that people in our capital cities take for granted.
Importantly, increased education, training and business opportunities means more jobs in local communities.
People in Armidale are being progressively connected to the NBN as part of trials being carried out by four telecommunications providers: iiNet, Internode, iPrimus and Telstra.
Commercial services will begin from September and more providers will be offering services from that time: AAPT, AARNet, Comscentre, Exetel, Nextgen Networks, Optus, Platform Networks, SkyMesh and Vodaphone Hutchison Australia.
Senator Conroy said the testing phase is an important part of the rollout. A similar testing phase was carried out in Tasmania prior to the launch of commercial services and this allows NBN Co to ensure the network is operating smoothly.
Senator Conroy said today is just the beginning with more and more people coming online over the coming months and enjoying the benefits of the NBN.
Armidale is one of five first release sites where the NBN is rolling out on mainland Australia.
The other sites of Kiama Downs and Minnamurra (NSW), Townsville (QLD), Willunga (SA) and Brunswick (Vic) will begin offering services progressively over the coming months.