NBN chief customer officer John Simon visited on Thursday to launch the NBN for the Orange Business Chamber and update eagerly waiting businesses on the rollout’s status.

NBN may be currently relying on the fibre-to-the-node standard, but he told those in attendance that could change in 2018, moving to fibre-to-the-kerb.

This means instead of a node up to 400 metres away from your house, the fibre would come much closer, with a smaller node capable of hosting 16 ports.

Once this technology is released, customers here will be able to order the technology to upgrade their capabilities, but Orange’s position in the rollout means it will not be the standard.

While the design work is still under way and it’s unclear how this technology would be made available, historically, not having a standard installation has meant additional costs to the customer.

Despite the required 25 megabit a second required standard once the rollout is completed across the country, one would have to question whether this would again put regional areas behind their metropolitan counterparts.

Of course, this needs to be weighed up against the alternative of making the whole region wait until 2018 for the technology, where some residents still rely on dial-up and 22 per cent do not have a connection at all.

Mr Simon stated NBN had taken an “outside in” approach to the rollout so regional areas could benefit earlier.

As it is, we will be 12 months in front of Bathurst, with potential to expand markets and multiply business incomes several times, as business owners saw in a case study where a fishery owner was able to increase his turnover from $200,000 annually to $2 million, doubled exports to China and grew to one of Australia’s leading fisheries.

Some businesses may be gawking at costs up to $2000 to upgrade their phone systems so they’re compatible with the NBN.

Social media has also been alive with complaints as customers have lost their ADSL before they’ve been connected to the NBN, although NBN says this problem is being addressed.

But in an increasingly competitive landscape, the headstart might be worth it.