Over 80 per cent of households in the Brunswick area, the first are of Melbourne to enjoy the rollout of National Broadband Network (NBN) services, agree that that the initiative is a positive step.

The survey, undertaken by the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University, examined the responses of 282 households in the suburb,

Dr Bjorn Nansen from the University of Melbourne said “Households believe the NBN is of national value and can help to play an important role in building the productivity and competitiveness of the economy, and in providing for universal digital inclusion.”

“The implementation of the National Broadband is a national significant investment. However, all new technologies often face a problem in being understood and used when in their early stages,” said Dr Nansen from the Department of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne.

The research found that many non NBN connected households, regardless of their Internet connection, did not know what Internet speed was possible or advertised as part of their retail service plan (68% were unsure of their Internet data speed). NBN users, however, tended to be more knowledgeable about quantifiable measures (49% knew their advertised data speed The study also revealed that people who favoured the NBN were more likely to be home-owners and have children. Many users were also more likely to use the technology in their homes as a place of work,

Many involved in the roll-out of the NBN, valued internet speed above price. Yet half (49%) of NBN users in Brunswick did not see any change in the cost of their home Internet after upgrading. For many households this was associated with a substitution of landline telephone for a VoIP telephone.

“The NBN is contributing to ongoing shifts in household communication infrastructure and environments. Internet access is moving from singular, wired and fixed to multiple, wireless and mobile; and we see both a convergence and accumulation of devices in the home” said Dr Nansen.