Most Australians still waiting for the NBN will have to wait a whole lot longer with only 1 in 10 Australians to have NBN access in FY2015 according to new NBN Co figures, but the pace is finally accelerating.
NBN Co says it has significantly accelerated the pace of the rollout with its CEO Bill Morrow saying the past year has been a period of enormous change and transformation of the NBN.
He stated: “We have continued to make significant headway in transitioning to the Optimised Multi-Technology Mix”, adding that “our plan is to provide one in 10 Australian homes and businesses the ability to connect to the National Broadband Network (NBN) in FY2015 as we work to double the number of premises serviceable.”
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In the 12 months to 30 June 2014, NBN Co says the NBN footprint “broadened to cover approximately 1.4 million premises where work is complete or in progress (i.e. build preparation, physical construction, and activated services)”, with the number of premises that can order an NBN service more than doubling to 553,000 premises, up from 227,000 in the previous financial year, with the number of active NBN users tripling, up from 70,000 a year ago to 210,000 today.
This growth meant revenues rose fourfold to $61M, Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) was “stable” at $37.34 per month, capital expenditure and operational expenditure was as expected at $2.5 billion and $1.1 billion respectively with the NBN receiving a total $8.4 billion equity funding.
Mr Morrow added: “We have stabilised the existing rollout, strengthened our relationships with our construction partners and are making significant headway in transforming the company. We are well placed to continue to grow.
“These achievements are a result of hardworking contractors, third party partners and our highly motivated people under the direction of a new leadership team,” he said.
NBN Co says the results so far are “a mark of the company’s focus on driving efficiency and stability of the construction program that will enable NBN to deliver on its commitment of providing faster, more efficient and a less costly broadband for all Australians.”
This news follows NBN Co’s achievement in reaching a “non-binding framework with Telstra for the renegotiation of the Definitive Agreements between the two companies, including the progressive acquisition of some of Telstra’s copper and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) assets”, with NBN Co saying “it had also commenced negotiations with the SingTel Group for the progressive purchase of some of its Optus HFC assets.”
FTTN trials in parts of NSW and Queensland have also commenced, as previously reported, with peak download speeds of nearly 100Mbps and upload speeds of around 30Mbps.
