mmg.com.au

The research, by the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University, found the earliest adopters of the NBN in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick were home owners and households with children.

‘‘Households who switched to an NBN service report an increase in the amount of data they download, are twice as likely to work from home, have a greater number of connected devices than they did previously and use them in more places throughout the home,’’ ACCAN spokeswoman Elise Davidson said.

Of the 282 households who agreed to be part of the study, almost half of those with an NBN service reported no real impact on the price they paid for an internet service (49 per cent), with 37 per cent paying more and 14 per cent paying less.

‘‘The research indicates people are willing to pay a bit more to get high-speed internet and larger download allowances,’’ Ms Davidson said.

‘‘For others, their monthly costs went down because they were able to switch from a landline phone service to VoIP (voice over internet protocol).’’

When asked about their attitudes toward the NBN, 82 per cent of households said they thought it was a good idea and particularly valued the fast internet speeds and quality of connection.

‘‘The thing that people say they like most about the NBN is the speed and the data capacity,’’ Ms Davidson said.

‘‘We’re not too surprised to hear this — right around Australia people are telling us they want access to reliable, quality broadband at an affordable price.’’

The NBN is being rolled out to almost 19 000 homes, businesses, schools and hospitals in Shepparton, Grahamvale. Mooroopna, and Tatura by April 1, 2015.

Construction in Shepparton started in February with the last stage of the roll out scheduled to start by November.

The time between start and switch-on is typically a year.