Net's new highway awaits traffic

THE super high-speed internet is connected. But there are no people to use it - yet. A deserted estate in Sydney's outskirts has become the latest site in Australia to be connected to the national broadband network. When residents move into Bunya Estate in Doonside some time in the next four months they will be able to watch movies over internet-enabled TVs at the same time as they play internet games and use high-quality video conferencing. Tim Smith, the marketing manager for NBN Co, said the benefit of the fibre network was not just its high speeds, but its high bandwidth. Advertisement: Story continues below ''It is about the ability to run multiple applications in your home concurrently,'' he said. But the number of high bandwidth applications that can run at the same time will depend on the broadband packages residents choose from their internet service provider and the technology they use. The Minister for Communications, Stephen Conroy, said connecting the greenfield estate was a ''significant milestone'' for the national broadband rollout. ''Every person who moves in is able to access the service from a retail service provider,'' he said. The ability to use high definition voice and video conferencing and secure online productivity software were the key applications that would drive an increase in the number of people teleworking, he said.