The fixed wireless installations take an average of 12 months before customers will be able to connect to the service.

Horsham Rural City Council chief executive Peter Brown said he was pleased construction had started.

“Now what we are waiting to hear is when they will be connected and start operating,” he said.

“Fixed wireless services are all starting to go ahead but what we are interested in is hearing about the fibre-optic connection that was planned for Horsham.

“It was planned for January 2014 and it is disappointing it hasn’t happened yet, however that’s the way it goes and hopefully the roll-out starts later this year.”

Mr Brown said fast broadband would benefit businesses and residents in the region.

“Particularly the grains research industry. We have Bayer CropScience out at Longerenong now and the genebank at Grains Innovation Park,'' he said.

"All those businesses rely on data and will be able to function much better with faster internet.

“It is also important for the community to have access to this technology.

“We all want the Wimmera to be a place where people can live and work in a digital society.”

NBN Co spokesman Corrie Withers said the NBN would bring regional Victoria into line with urban Australia.

“For decades, rural and regional Australia has been left behind when it comes to telecommunications,” he said. 

“The fixed wireless service is designed to provide access to internet speeds and bandwidth that many in the big cities currently take for granted.”

He said rural businesses would benefit from faster internet.

“The NBN also means you can get the whole family online at once, opening up opportunities for farms, businesses and the wider region to participate in the digital age,” he said.

“Fast broadband can help deliver improved access to health, education and entertainment over high quality video links.”