Prepare now for the 2023 summer and beyond

After several years of rain and flooding, Australia will face drier conditions and potential bushfires this summer.

Although the nature of these emergencies is different – the devastating effects they can have on residents, communities and businesses is the same.

Ahead of the 2023 summer, nbn is reminding communities and residents about how to stay connected in an emergency.

• Stay mobile: have a charged mobile phone handy.
• Stay updated: have a battery powered radio ready and tuned into your local ABC for local emergency updates.
• Back up: upload and back up key documents, files and photos to a cloud server, or portable USB or disk drive.
• Test residential evacuation and business continuity plans.
  

nbn Local General Manager, Chris Cusack, said:

“The nbn^® network is designed to withstand disruptions so if one part of the network is affected – other parts can continue to work.

“However, in emergencies where physical equipment damage occurs to the power or telecommunications infrastructure, connectivity over the nbn network may be lost.

“Now is the time for residents and communities to think about the things they can do to stay safe and connected during times of emergency. We hope people won’t need to rely on these tips, but the more work we do now, the more prepared we will be in the unfortunate event something happens.

“We understand the important role our network plays in helping to keep people, businesses and communities connected and we have been continuing to improve our network’s resiliency and response to emergency events.

“We have nbn Local teams across Australia who live, work and are involved in their local communities, and are at the forefront of our response on the ground.

“Our teams will work with emergency services when preparing for a disaster and will be ready to repair and restore the network as soon as it is safe to do so.”

nbn has made its emergency preparedness tips into an easy downloadable resource on its website, including in six community languages to support communities right across Australia.

The tech nbn uses to support communities during emergencies

In the last two-and-a-half years, as part of the Federal Government’s Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters program, more than 1000 nbn Disaster Satellite Services have been installed across Australia in nominated emergency management sites and evacuation centres.

With most nbn service disruptions during emergencies being caused by power blackouts, nbn continues to invest in power back up across the network, and has recently finished installation of Hybrid Power Cubes that can maintain power and internet connectivity during times of natural or other disasters across several regional Queensland Shire Councils.

The completion of the $4.4 million nbn Hybrid Power Cube Project was funded under the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program. The grant funded the development and installation of 33 Hybrid Power Cubes at Fixed Wireless installations across the Gympie, Whitsunday, Fraser Coast, North Burnett and Bundaberg Regional Councils.

A Hybrid Power Cube is an environmentally friendly, hybrid technology power generation unit combining solar panels, battery, and a compact diesel generator. It provides solar power to Fixed Wireless hub sites during the day and, for power resilience, relies on excess battery and grid power at night.

nbn has also invested in an extensive suite of Temporary Network Infrastructure to help keep customers connected during and after times of disaster. Developed in-house and placed across Australia, this equipment can be rapidly deployed to support communities to restore connectivity to the nbn network or provide temporary internet connectivity to those most affected.