NBN goes live on mainland - in Armidale

AAP-May,17-The first Australian mainland site for the $36 billion national broadband network will go live on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will visit an Armidale school to flick the switch on the network, which until now has operated only in Tasmania.
Accompanying her will be Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and independent MP Tony Windsor, whose support for the minority Labor government was partly based on delivery of the NBN.
Mr Windsor says high-speed internet will revolutionise the way business, health and education services are delivered in regional Australia.
The Armidale site covers almost 3000 premises and is understood to have a 90 per cent opt-in rate - the highest percentage of any residents with the fibre cable installed at the five "first release sites".
The other sites to be switched on in coming months include Brunswick in Melbourne, the Townsville suburbs of Aitkenvale and Mundingburra, the NSW coastal communities of Minnamurra and Kiama Downs, and the rural town of Willunga in South Australia.
NBN Co has previously announced that 13 retail service providers have signed up to offer services at the Armidale trial site.
NBN services in three Tasmania towns began in August 2010, with a parliamentary committee hearing this week that 712 customers have connected to date out of 5000 covered by the fibre network.