Peak switchover near! NBN to cut off thousands of landlines in February

The National Broadband Network (NBN) is set to enter its peak switchover phase next month, with some 313,000 landlines scheduled to be disconnected in February.

A total of nearly one million landlines servicing both homes and businesses will be decommissioned over the next six months, with disconnections ramping up to an average of 50,000 a week from mid-year.

An NBN Co spokesperson told The Australian that it was managing disconnections carefully and methodically, adding that it “sent “up to five letters to each home warning them of when their landlines would be disconnected.

“We then send material via registered post to residential premises that have not yet connected (to the NBN) five weeks before the disconnection date,” the spokeswoman said.

Read more: A super-handy checklist for switching to the NBN

According to The Australian, nearly three-quarters (73.5 per cent) of premises within an area where the NBN had arrived had signed up to the scheme. The remaining quarter (26.5 per cent) chose to keep a landline or did not have a connected landline.

The prospective changeover to the NBN had prompted many Australians to review their phone and broadband options, with some people opting for a mobile-only service or a non-NBN service provider.

Users have expressed concerns over the switch from copper landlines to the NBN, while others have taken to Twitter to express their frustration with the service.

For the second time in less than 6 months, our “copper to the house” NBN connection at the beach went down as a consequence of corrosion. What a dumb idea! We have to dump this useless mob!

— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) January 11, 2018

The majority of nbn connected phones will have no battery backup. And those that do have a battery will only be able to use the phone within the first 4 hours of a power failure. And that’s considering the battery isn’t more than 3 years old. This is progress.

— Craig Fiddick (@Craig_Fiddick) January 7, 2018

Other Twitter users, including Labor MP Anthony Albanese, have commented about the perceived failure of the program to deliver the speedy broadband service promised by the Turnbull government.

That time when Tony Abbott instructed Malcolm Turnbull to destroy the #NBN #missionaccomplished pic.twitter.com/jRb6IcE790

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 8, 2018

#Australia has 55th fastest internet in the world, which is actually pretty slow. Convinced we need to build a better network yet? @TurnbullMalcolm @NBN_Australia #nbn #auspol pic.twitter.com/sq3tf7Z2TH

— Senator Jordon Steele-John (@Jordonsteele) January 8, 2018

To date, 1.3 million Australian homes have been disconnected, with the entire rollout expected to be completed in 2020.

You can check to see if the NBN is available at your home or business here.

Have you moved to the NBN yet? How have you found it?