Regional Australians are well placed to take advantage of the economic and social benefits that the nbn™ access network helps to enable.
Thanks to the early prioritisation of our network rollout to regional areas, all but a few homes and business are in design, construction or are able to connect to a service over the nbn™ access network today.
The Connecting Australia report from AlphaBeta has revealed the significant impact fast broadband is having on the lives of regional and remote Australians by comparing areas where the nbn™ rollout is more than 90 per cent complete and areas where the nbn™ rollout is less than 10 per cent complete.
Some of the key findings at the time of the study include:
Employment
The nbn™ access network is estimated to have helped create an additional 1,750 jobs in regional Australia by the 2017 financial year and this employment impact is forecast to reach up to 20,000 jobs by FY21.
Flexible work
Annual growth in people working from home in regional areas with access to the nbn™ access network is significant, at 2.2 per cent per year from 2011-2016 versus a decline in the annual growth rate of 1.1 per cent in regional Australia without access to the nbn™ access network.
Business growth
The growth of new businesses in regions connected to the nbn™ access network accelerated at twice the pace of the national average with up to 5,400 additional new businesses created in 2017.
Excitingly, more women are choosing to become their own boss in regions that have connected to the nbn™ access network. The growth in the number of self-employed women is twice as high as the average growth of self-employment (of both men and women), and 23 times higher than growth in self-employment by women in non nbn™-connected regions.
Inspirational and entrepreneurial women like Shelly Hawkins of Trek West who, thanks to the Sky Muster™ satellite service, can market their business to the rest of the world whilst operating on their remote property five hours north west of Mt Isa.
At NBN Co, we have a clear purpose to connect Australia and bridge the digital divide. Our continued investment in further upgrades and new services for regional and rural Australia are key to helping us deliver on this.
As the regional rollout nears completion, we look forward to seeing more stories like Shelly's to show how fast broadband can change lives and drive innovation in areas which need access the most.
