The Abbott Government has announced the termination of the National Broadband Network's three-year fibre rollout plans across Hepburn shire, leaving local residents and businesses to rely on last century's copper for their broadband.
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Last week the Coalition government pulled the plug on 3500 premises in Daylesford, Hepburn, Hepburn Springs, Musk, Clunes and Trentham receiving fibre-to-the-home broadband services.
"Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull are denying local residents and businesses access to the boundless educational, health, lifestyle and commercial opportunities that fibre to the home delivers," the Federal Member for Ballarat, Catherine King said.
"Residents and businesses in these areas will be left with one of two choices: battle on using out-dated copper, or fork out up to $5000 to have fibre connected to their home or business.
"At a time when the government should be ramping up the rollout of the NBN, they are taking it away," Mrs King said.
Creswick was due to have the NBN rolled out early next year, but now this has been stopped.
"This will be a blow for Creswick, because the town relies on high speed internet,"Hepburn Shire councillor Don Henderson said.
"We have several businesses here in Creswick that are internationally based businesses and I just wonder what the affect will be on them.
"Creswick was looking forward to having the NBN rolled out," Cr Henderson said."
Many of the homes and businesses in Creswick are centralised which would have minimised the cost, he said.
"It wouldn't have been a big effort. I guess now we have to rely on second-rate internet service."
While towns in the shire are missing out, the town of Smeaton has a unique situation where the town already has fibre optic internet connections.
