ASX-listed rental property website Rent.com.au is first off the blocks when it comes to telling renters whether their property is connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) or not.
The WA-based firm’s CEO Greg Bader said demand from renters had led to this new feature, with many finding the NBN’s website not quite up to scratch and renters often too time poor to check the status of each property individually.
“What we have done is taken public information and then presented it in a format that is easier to digest for our customers,” he said.
When rent-seekers search a property they can see the basic NBN information of each property in the summary — whether the NBN is ‘available’, ‘scheduled’, or ‘unknown’.
“I understand the general frustration from renters, people want to see as much relevant information as they can — in the one place,” Mr Bader said.
“I don’t think people actually select a property purely based on the available broadband options but for some customers it does form part of the consideration set. I see it as similar to our Walk Score (the general “walkability” of a neighbourhood).
“It is general information that a renter can use to hopefully make a more informed decision. Choosing a new home is a huge decision, so the better informed someone is, the better for everyone.”
Mr Bader said the RENT site had 80,000 active listings from across Australia at any point in time, and this had led to some interesting statistics around the NBN rollout.
“When you look at the data in aggregate, we see that around a third of our properties have NBN available right now and we will finish 2017 with about half, this generally aligns with NBN’s own releases, although we would have more of a skew to major population centres,” he said.
“We can also see the impact of the ‘multi-technology’ strategy for fixed line services, not surprisingly it varies between the states. I have not followed NBN too closely for a while but I was a little surprised in that the FTTP penetration was lower than I expected.”
Technology commentator Trevor Long argued in The Australian today for less debate around the various NBN technologies, and more focus on delivery.
“I’m the first to admit I’d love Fibre-to-the-Home. I’d love it yesterday. But I’m a realist,” Mr Long wrote.
“The Australian people voted in a new government with a different plan and if we’re all honest there’s no doubt it’s the cheaper of the two by miles and will be complete in a much shorter time frame too.”
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