Amid rumours of increasing tension within the managing team of Australia’s National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co), CEO Mike Quigley has announced his decision to step down, just a few months after signing a new three-year contract.
Quigley,…
Amid rumours of increasing tension within the managing team of Australia’s National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co), CEO Mike Quigley has announced his decision to step down, just a few months after signing a new three-year contract.
Quigley, who is leaving after four years at the head of the public-private partnership, stressed in a statement that his job was to “lay the foundation for the NBN for the next 30 years. That job is largely complete.”
But reports suggest that recently-named NBN Co chairwoman Siobhan McKenna had approached board members to test support for Quigley as the rollout project suffered delays.
The CEO however was quoted saying that he had a good relationship with McKenna and that he had already discussed his eventual departure months before her appointment in March.
It is also speculated that Quigley lost a key ally in former communications minister Stephen Conroy, who resigned in late June following Kevin Rudd’s successful challenge of Julia Gillard for leadership of the Australian Labor Party.
Malcolm Turnbull, who has been tipped as Australia’s next communications minister in case the Liberal Party wins the federal election later this year, previously questioned Quigley’s ability to lead NBN Co, according to local reports.
Quigley is expected continue to serve as CEO until the board appoints a successor to oversee the next stage of the company’s development.
Under the NBN plan, the government aims to expand high-speed broadband internet access to all Australians by 2021. It will provide services to 93% of the population through fibre, while a further 7% will be served by either wireless or satellite technology.
