The Communications Department is celebrating the half-completion of the NBN rollout in one Australian city.

The NBN rollout in Hobart is now 50 per cent complete, with the latest fixed wireless tower switched on over the weekend.

“This is a significant milestone for the NBN rollout in Hobart, with half of the premises in the city now able to connect to the network,” said Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher.

“Just outside the city, NBN’s latest fixed wireless tower has now been activated, and Tasmania will be the first state in Australia to see the NBN rollout completed by June 2018.”

Six service area modules (SAMs) have been completed, deploying fibre to the premise (FTTP) technology to 14,500 premises.

The company in charge of the rollout has announced that a further 6 SAMs in Hobart are actively under construction or planning.

It means 15 SAMs have been completed across greater Hobert, with over 34,000 premises ready for service. A further 13 SAMs are actively under construction or planning, with the remainder of the rollout is due to begin construction before the end of 2016.

The rollout is expected to be followed by a significant recruitment and training drive that could double the current national construction workforce to 9,000 – with an estimated 200 new employees coming on board in Tasmania to complete the rollout across the state.

Mr Fletcher also announced that Tasmania's latest NBN fixed wireless tower had been switched on at Neika just outside of Hobart, and that residents of several mountain communities were now able to purchase high-speed fixed wireless broadband services.