UP TO 2000 homes in the western and southern areas of Armidale could be left without a phone line because they have not yet signed up to the NBN, according to advocate Alun Davies.
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About 6000 homes and businesses in the city have already made the switch to NBN and fibre.
But another 2000 premises in the city have not done so and will be stranded unless they make the change before May 23.
These include businesses in Miller Street and homes in St Patricks Estate.
“I’m concerned people will leave the decision to the last minute and if they do, they might face delays of many weeks to be connected,” Mr Davies said yesterday.
He said residents and especially businesses should switch their telephone, broadband, security, fire and vital call lines now, while they still could.
Connection to the National Broadband Network is free.
But customers must first decide on an internet service provider and negotiate a package for broadband and phone services.
There are at least 20 such providers in Armidale offering services on the NBN, including Telstra, Optus, iiNet, Skymesh, Activ8, Harbour and Internode. A full list of providers are on the NBN’s website.
Mr Davies said: “The switch, from copper wire to fibre optic, was similar to households turning their analogue televisions to digital, it is time to move on and do it early.”
“If people leave the switch until next May, that will cause a backlog and that in turn will lead to delays, leaving residents without a phone,.”
