![ALMOST HERE: 21,000 homes in Tamworth will have access to fixed-line NBN internet by mid-2018. ALMOST HERE: 21,000 homes in Tamworth will have access to fixed-line NBN internet by mid-2018.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/pMXRnDj3SUU44AkPpn97sC/fb72187f-95b2-405f-9d5d-c99fca6ed99b.jpg/r0_0_2948_2585_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Business advocates across the region welcomed news the National Broadband Network (NBN) would be rolled in Tamworth from December this year.
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Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) will work with the NBN Co. during the installation and mayor Col Murray said the announcement was “sensational”.
“I think we suffered a lapse in securing opportunities while we were waiting for [the NBN] to get here,” Cr Murray said.
“It will make a lot more things achievable.
“It will make things more attractive for new businesses.”
Armidale communications expert Alun Davies said the whole region depends on Tamworth being competitive.
“We need a really competitive Tamworth,” Mr Davies said.
“I know Tamworth and Armidale have a bit of a rivalry, but the whole region depends on Tamworth being competitive.”
While the “fast and reliable broadband internet service” was said to be the “icing on the cake” for business confidence in Tamworth, the fibre to the node fixed-line internet infrastructure will extend to the smaller communities.
“[In Manilla],work will begin in August next year to connect 700 homes and businesses to the fixed line network,” NBN manager of corporate affairs Kelly Stevens said.
Other communities in the local government area are already connected to the NBN through fixed wireless.
“275 homes and businesses [in Nundle] have been able to connect to the NBN through our fixed wireless technology for a couple of years,” Ms Stevens said
“Around 880 premises [in Barraba] have been able to connect to the fixed wireless network since 2014.”
Meanwhile West Tamworth were up in arms about an overgrown lot which has become a haven for brown snakes.
Tamworth Regional Council’s regulatory services manager, Ross Briggs, said after council received a complaint on Friday rangers looked at the area and checked records to discover the owners of the land.
Mr Briggs said the investigation found that several properties were owned by the Department of Housing, and council contacted them about cleaning up the land.
“We ask residents to continue to report their concerns to us, and we will keep working on a resolution,” Mr Briggs said.