NBN to speed up rollout

NBN to speed up rollout

The Government intends to roll out the National Broadband Network sooner and at less expense to taxpayers.

It made an agreement this week to allow NBN Co to take progressive ownership of the Optus HFC cable network and use this infrastructure in the NBN rollout, at no additional cost to taxpayers.

The shift to a multi-technology NBN is estimated to save about $30 billion and bring forward its completion by around four years, compared to the previous fibre-to-the-premises rollout.

The shift to a multi-technology NBN is estimated to save about $30 billion and bring forward its completion by around four years.

The new agreement amends the Optus HFC Subscriber Agreement signed by NBN Co and Optus in June 2011. The original agreement involved closing the HFC network down. The amendments are subject to approval by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The NBN is the largest infrastructure project in Australia’s history. It is a wholesale-only high-speed broadband network that will connect about 12 million homes and businesses across the nation. The network is being constructed and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned company.

It is the Government’s policy to ensure all households and businesses have access to broadband services providing download data rates of at least 25 megabits per second and proportionate upload data rates. Nine out of 10 premises in the fixed-line footprint will have access to broadband providing downloads of at least 50 megabits per second and proportionate uploads.