Nearly one million landline phone networks – to homes and businesses – will be permanently disconnected in the next six months, as the NBN moves towards its peak switchover phase.
The company has revealed that 313,000 disconnections will occur next month alone.
In the next six months to June 926,235 locations will be formally disconnected. The average rate of “formal disconnections” will grow to about 50,000 per week after that.
As per the NBN’s terms, existing phone networks need to be disconnected 18 months after the NBN service is available in a certain area.
A spokesperson for the NBN affirms that in reality a large number of homes will already be disconnected before the “formal disconnection date”, having signed up for the NBN prior.
The NBN’s take-up figures reflect that on average 735% of premises sign up for the service, 18 months after the NBN has rolled out in a specific area.
The spokesperson states that disconnections are “carefully managed”, with “up to five letters” sent out warning residents that their landlines will be disconnected.
“By the time the disconnection date arrives, the vast majority of services have already been migrated, and we closely manage the final single-digit percentage yet to migrate, who still want to migrate”
“Some decide not to migrate as they prefer a mobile-only service, it’s a holiday house, or they have another (non-NBN) provider”.
In response to recent criticism, an NBN spokesperson states the company encourages individuals to have a “charged mobile device” nearby, in the instance of power blackouts.
The NBN Co states that 1.3 million Australian homes have already been “formally disconnected”. The NBN rollout is scheduled to finish in 2020. Eighteen months after, the last of the landline networks will be decommissioned.
