Australian Associated Press theguardian.com

Friday 29 November 2013

Leaked briefing to Abbott government also cuts revenue projections by up to 30%

Fibre optic broadband ... Coalition picked cheaper option. Photograph: Rex Features

The government's 2016 delivery deadline for the national broadband network looks likely to be blown out, according to a leaked internal NBN Co document.

The coalition has promised to deliver 25 megabits per second (MBPS) broadband services to all homes by 2016, but a brief to the incoming government, obtained by Fairfax Media, says construction and technical issues mean that may not happen.

"There are a number of conditions that will impact on NBN Co's ability to undertake a volume (fibre-to-the-node) network rollout," the report says.

"Given the complexity of these conditions, it is unlikely that NBN Co will meet the 2016 deadline to upgrade the fixed network to enable Australians to have minimum download speeds of 25MBPS."

In addition to raising issues about timing, the document also cuts revenue projections by up to 30% by 2021.

A Senate hearing this week was told by communications secretaries that NBN Co will need to lower its revenue projections because copper can't match the speeds of 250-1000 MBPS of fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP).

The Abbott government campaigned to replace Labor's FTTP model for the cheaper fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) option that will rely on Telstra's ageing copper network to connect homes and businesses.

But while FTTN is estimated to be at least $15bn cheaper and two years faster to build, the hearing was told NBN Co will need to lower its revenue projections as copper can't match the speeds of 250-1000 MBPS of fibre-to-the-premises.

Speeds on FTTN are expected to be 25-100 MBPS.

Coalition 'unlikely hit national broadband network deadline' | Technology | theguardian.com