Under pressure to get political support for its national broadband network (NBN), the Australian government has lowered the cost of the project by about A$7bn to A$35.7bn.
In documents released today, the government detailed the business plan for the…
Under pressure to get political support for its national broadband network (NBN), the Australian government has lowered the cost of the project by about A$7bn to A$35.7bn.
In documents released today, the government detailed the business plan for the NBN, as demanded by independent senator Nick Xenophon. The Senate is currently voting on key legislation that, if passed, will enable the NBN rollout. After reviewing the documents, Xenophon reportedly said he would back the bill.
Earlier this week, the Greens party had already struck a deal with the government that would make the privatisation of NBN more difficult. In exchange for the Greens supporting the Senate bill, which will involve the separation of Telstra’s retail and wholesale arms, the government reportedly promised that NBN would not be automatically privatised without parliamentary approval.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Telstra separation bill. The draft legislation, which will pave the way for the rollout of the NBN, must receive Senate approval before it can be passed into law.
At the end of June, Australian telecoms incumbent Telstra signed a nonbinding agreement to participate in the rollout. Under the terms of the agreement, NBN will pay Telstra about A$11bn (US$9.6bn) in phased payments in return for the decommissioning of Telstra’s copper network and the transfer of its customers to a new fibre-optic network. The agreement will also see the separation of Telstra’s retail and wholesale arms, in order to encourage competition.
