MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
MEMBER FOR GREENWAY
  

NBNCO CONSIDERING OVERBUILDING COPPER WITH FIBRE TO WARD OFF 5G COMPETITION

 
CommsDay has today reported NBNCo is actively considering overbuilding its copper network with Fibre to the Premises in order to fend off 5G competition that could blow a hole in its revenue streams.
 
It’s clear something hasn’t gone right when an operator feels pressured to upgrade a $51 billion taxpayer-funded network before its rollout is even finished.
 
As noted by the ABC this morning:
 
“We now proudly stand in 62nd place, outstripping Montenegro, Kosovo and Kazakhstan although, sadly, we still trail Uruguay.”
 
“As projects go, the NBN pretty much failed on every count; overbudget and over deadline, delivering a product that is slow and expensive.”
 
“The report in CommsDay confirms what experts have long understood — Labor’s original fibre rollout was not only superior, but cheaper for taxpayers too”, Ms Rowland said.
 
“The decision to rely on inferior copper and Foxtel’s Pay TV infrastructure has produced a network that is technologically and economically inferior.”
 
“The Government is now having to grapple with having spent $51 billion of taxpayers’ money on a network that Is not good enough for Australia’s needs.”
 
The increasingly fragile Minister Fletcher appears so insecure to this reality, that he has resorted to making four different false claims about how long Labor’s original fibre rollout would have taken in the last ten months, with his latest attempt occurring just last week.
 
Key quotes from Commsday lead story, 17 August 2020
 
“NBN Co may announce GPON upgrades to its network within months as it seeks to counter a competitive assault on its FTTN and fixed wireless customers from 5G operators. But there are concerns that over-investment in the fixed broadband sector may further distort what is already its parlous economics, where retailer earnings are trending down to zero.“
 
“CommsDay has learned that NBN Co is actively weighing up options for its planned upgrade program of its network, with the goal of announcing initial steps in its 2021 corporate plan which is scheduled to be delivered within the next two months.”
 
The urgency in defining an upgrade path follows confirmation last week that Telstra will launch a fixed wireless 5G product targeted at NBN’s FTTN and fixed wireless footprints. Optus has already launched a 5G product available to nearly half a million households and, despite the delays in its merger with Vodafone, TPG has indicated it will follow suit.
 
“If Telstra was to go further and churn a substantial percentage of its FTTN and NBN wireless customers to its own 5G network, it could leave NBN’s revenues in tatters.”
 
“NBN is considering an GPON upgrade as its response, both to all business areas and FTTN residential areas. It’s early days for the proposal in terms of how it will be funded and paid for.”

MONDAY, 17 AUGUST 2020