NBN Co has today released its Corporate Plan 2017, revealing decreasing hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) distribution and a growing fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) footprint.NBN Co states that its multi-technology mix rollout is on track for completion by 2020, with the distribution of technologies showing a variance from that laid out in last year’s corporate plan.
Last year’s plan forecast that 4 million premises would be connected by HFC, with this year’s plan forecasting a base case of 2.8 million (2.5-3.2 million), with fibre-to-the premises (FTTP) also having declined from last year’s forecast of 2.4 million to a base case of 2 million (2-2.5 million) premises.
FTTN (including fibre-to-the-basement and fibre-to-the-distribution point) is forecast for a base case of 6.1 million (5.1-6.5 million) premises, growing from 4.5 million last year.
NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow, meanwhile, has stated that NBN Co projects a decrease in the top end of its peak funding range.
“We have strengthened our relationships with our partners, finalised contracts to the end of the build, and improved data quality,” Morrow stated. “These factors have enabled NBN to minimise many of the uncertainties and cost assumptions in the business.
“This has led to a projected decrease in the top end of the peak funding range, now $46-54 billion, down from $46-56 billion in the 2016 Corporate Plan.”
This year’s plan continues to support a peak funding base case forecast of $49 billion.
NBN Co’s Corporate Plan 2017 also reveals steep growth in forecast revenue through to 2020 in line with growth in premises activated, with NBN Co forecasting revenue of $5 billion by 2020, compared to $421 million this year.
NBN Co recently released its full-year results, showing that 1.1 million homes and businesses now have an active NBN service, with the number of premises able to order an NBN service at 2.9 million.
