Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

The government's $18.5 million election commitment to fund the Technology Choice upgrade to Tasmania's west coast is on track for delivery later this year. This is a signature achievement of Mr Brett Whiteley. Construction of the fixed-line broadband NBN has commenced in Queenstown, Rosebery and Zeehan and the fixed-wireless service for Strahan is set to be switched on in the middle of this year. Exchange upgrades have been completed, and residents throughout the west coast communities can see workers on the ground building nodes and laying fibre. A portion of the existing fibre link provided by the state government is being integrated into NBN's network to allow these communities to have access to fast broadband for the very first time. In total, NBN expects that nearly 3,000 premises will be ready for service before the end of the year, commencing with the fixed-wireless switch-on in Strahan. This milestone will complete the rollout for the electorate of Braddon, and we'll be able to officially declare Tasmania as Australia's first fully connected state. (Time expired)