NBN's new maps pass politicians' doors
NBN is ramping up the rollout of its ‘multi-technology mix’, and curiously, the electorates of both the Prime Minister and Treasurer are on the list.
NBN released its quarterly construction update last week, adding 200,000 premises to the rollout to have construction under way or planned by the end of December 2016.
The list for new fibre-to-the-node hook-ups includes North Manly in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's electorate and North Sydney in Treasurer Joe Hockey's electorate, along with Margaret River, Kalgoorlie, Buderim, Springfield in Brisbane, Port Macquarie, Ryde, Portsea, Mornington Peninsula, and Beaconsfield in Melbourne.
It mean that more than 1 million premises in Australia can now order NBN services, with some of the first suburbs to be receive the ‘multi-technology mix’ included in last Thursday’s list.
NBN chief operating officer Greg Adcock issued a statement on the progress.
“The expansion of the rollout reflects the company's new multi-technology approach and is an important step toward reaching our goal of connecting 8 million premises to the NBN network by 2020,” he said in a statement.
“Today, around one in 10 homes and businesses can connect to the NBN network. Our recently renegotiated construction contracts give us the confidence to schedule more than double that amount to start construction over the next 18 months.
“Across the country, more than a million families and businesses are already able to experience fast broadband by connecting to Australia's broadband network.”
The government-owned company and broader internet-building idea is still being overhauled, with a recent announcement that the rollout contracts will soon be awarded based on performance.
This change caused one of the companies holding construction contracts, Visionstream, to sack 60 workers in Tasmania.
Visionstream has a five-year construction contract with NBN, along with other contracts for Downer, Transfield, Fulton Hogan, and WBHO.
NBN has also revealed that its timing for launching hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) cable products has been moved back to the second quarter of 2016.