Nation-building NBN project a boon to Queensland
NBN champion, Queensland ophthalmologist and former chair of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Bill Glasson, today welcomed the release of NBN Co’s first national 12-month fibre rollout schedule for the National Broadband Network (NBN).
The schedule includes sites around Queensland – Aspley, Goodna, Nudgee, Townsville City and further areas in Townsville and Toowoomba – which Dr Glasson said would benefit from innovative medical services that the NBN would deliver.
The schedule lists the locations around the country where the fibre network rollout will begin construction before September 2012.
“This is an ambitious, nation building project, but I’m particularly excited about the benefits to medical patients in Queensland and Australia,” Dr Glasson said.
“Reliable high-speed broadband is a game-changer on many fronts. It will literally change the way we live: how work, learn, do business, and receive health services. It will connect us in ways once unimaginable.”
More than half a million premises across 56 Australian towns and suburbs are set to gain access to NBN fibre services under NBN Co’s first one-year construction schedule. This includes more than 85,000 premises in communities across Queensland.
Dr Glasson said the NBN would connect people with services they needed, no matter where they lived. Importantly, it would transform the delivery of education and health services, enabling healthcare providers to consult with patients via videolink, removing distance as a barrier to specialist care.
“The NBN will change the way we practise our profession,” Dr Glasson said.
“Through high-definition video we will be able to deliver quality services to a greater number of patients without the stress and cost of travel. Telemedicine supported by high-speed broadband will revolutionise healthcare as we know it.
“The NBN will not only link our regions with our cities, but will enable a greater level of connectedness within individual communities. It is the key to our future and to a world of opportunity for all Australians.”
Media inquiries – Dr Bill Glasson 0427 757 375
