The National Broadband Network (NBN) has finally made it to the big city, with the NBN this morning being switched on for the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.
The First Release area includes about 2700 households, but only 52 per cent have signed on for a lead-in to the fibre network, NBN Co has revealed. Fourteen customers have to date been connected.
The network was switched on by Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, at the suburb's town hall.
In pictures: NBN goes live in Brunswick.
Brunswick was announced as one of the NBN's mainland trial sites in March last year, along with Townsville in Queensland; Armidale and Kiama Downs and Minnamurra in NSW; and Willunga in South Australia. Construction of the NBN in the Melbourne suburb began in late October.
Telstra announced in August that it had scored the Brunswick NBN construction contract, with the telco employing some of its existing infrastructure in the suburb.
The Kiama trial site was switched on last week, and Willunga went live in June. Armidale was the first mainland site to receive NBN services, with customers getting access to fibre connections in April.
The Brunswick NBN trial is scheduled to run until late September.
In total some 700 mainland premises are now connected to the NBN.
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