Sydney's Blacktown has become the first suburb of Sydney to switch on to the National Broadband Network (NBN), NBN Co reported recently.
The switch-on was marked with a ceremony in Blacktown, which highlighted the first live NBN-enabled children's book reading session.
Australian children's author Andy Griffiths read extracts from his international best-selling books and spoke about his writing life with children at the Max Webber Library via an NBN connection made possible by phone and internet service provider Optus.
"It's a whole new way to reach readers and stimulate young minds," he said. "Better broadband is essential for Australia if we're to keep pace with the rest of the world."
The NBN Co. report said superfast broadband now passes 1,300 homes. In the coming months, over 9,300 premises will be available to NBN, including premises in Lalor Park.
NBN Co's General Manager of External Relations Trent Williams said this will open up new opportunities for families in Blacktown and throughout Australia.
In a recent study of the NBN first release site in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, nearly half of existing NBN users polled said household internet costs were roughly the same since switching to the NBN, and 14% were paying less by using an internet phone service instead of a separate landline.
Construction of the NBN is expected to be completed in 1.4 million premises across New South Wales and 4.85 million nationwide by mid-2016. The nationwide rollout is due to be completed by 2021.