NBN replaces 10,000 modems after lightning ‘fries’ devices across Blue Mountains

One family said blue sparks were flying from their modem as electrical storms wreaked havoc on fibre-to-the-curb distribution boxes

NBN Co has been forced to replace 10,000 faulty broadband devices in homes across the Blue Mountains west of Sydney after residents reported the technology was frequently struck by lightning and in one instance led to blue sparks flying out of a modem in a family's home.

About 20,000 of the more than 32,000 homes in the Blue Mountains and Emu Plains have been connected to the national broadband network via fibre-to-the-curb (FttC) technology, which was set up under the Coalition government's multi-technology mixed model.