Across the state thousands of property owners are waiting for the NBN Corporation to connect their premises to the network through micro-nodes.
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In August of the 113 micro-nodes deployed in Tasmania, only three were operational.
NBN Co said the remainder would be connected by November, but the corporation has not revealed how many remain unconnected.
Most were built late in 2016 but due to connection problems, the majority of micro-nodes in Tasmania remain non-operational.
A micro-node is a small cabinet, installed to improve the quality of the signal to properties on the edge of a town.
In early August, NBN Co Tasmania corporate affairs spokesman Russell Kelly said existing micro-nodes were planned to be connected by October this year.
In late-August, Mr Kelly said they would be connected by November.
This week that deadline was extended to the end of December.
“NBN has been working successfully to connect micro-nodes in Tasmania since May 2017,” Mr Kelly said.
“All micro-nodes in Tasmania that were constructed prior to May 2017 are expected to be activated by the end of 2017.
“As with any construction project, timelines are subject to change because of local conditions.”
Labor Senator Anne Urquhart called on Communications Minister Mitch Fifield to reveal the cause and cost of the delays.
“It is bad enough that Malcolm Turnbull and Minister Fifield relegated 100,000 Tasmanian premises to the inferior copper network, but these further delays for thousands of Tasmanian premises without any public apology and explanation shows their lack of interest in Tasmania,” she said.
“This issue only affects properties on Malcolm Turnbull’s second rate fibre-to-the-node network.
“If only he’d stuck with fibre-to-the-premises NBN for all of Tasmania.”
Tasmania is the most connected part of Australia with more than 95 per cent of Tasmania now connected to the NBN
Senator Urquhart slammed the delay to connect the cabinets.
“NBN Co has failed to keep its own commitment to connect all micro-nodes by the end of October,” she said.
“NBN Co needs to publicly release a work plan detailing when the remaining micro-nodes will be connected.”
The annual Telecommunications Ombudsman’s Report found complaints with the National Broadband Network skyrocketed – partly because the rollout is expanding.
In the 16-17 financial year, 27,195 complaints were lodged for services delivered over the NBN – compared to 10,487 complaints the previous financial year.
Tasmania had the lowest rate of internet complaints per premises activated in the nation.
