nbn has been granted final approval for the ownership of Telstra’s copper Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cables (HFC), that will enable acceleration of the rollout of the NBN network and its completion by 2020.
All of the conditions precedent to the revised Definitive Agreements between nbn and Telstra have been satisfied or waived.
This means nbn is now in a position to progressively take ownership of Telstra’s copper and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cables (HFC) and use those assets where they represent the fastest and most cost-effective way to deliver fast broadband to families and businesses.
The deal, which was struck in December last year, involves no overall additional cost to the taxpayer.
nbn CEO, Bill Morrow, has said, “Over the past 12 months our employees and partners have delivered an impressive turnaround in the performance of the company. Now, one in ten homes and businesses can receive an nbn service with nearly double that amount set to start construction over the next 18 months.
“Our task is to complete the build in the next five years and our agreement with Telstra will help us to do just that. Using existing infrastructure means we can build the nbn network sooner and at less cost to taxpayers than originally anticipated. What’s more, all the technologies being used in the nbn network can be upgraded to deliver even faster speeds and greater capacity when consumer demand calls for it.”
nbn has already made a head start on the Fibre to the Node component of the nbn network with work underway for the first 400,000 premises. The first of these will start coming online this year. HFC remains on track for a commercial launch in 2016.
To date the NBN rollout plan covers around one third of the country where work is set to be underway or complete by September 2016.
