MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
MEMBER FOR GREENWAY 


SMH NBN LEAKS: LIBERALS KNEW FIBRE NBN PLAN WAS AT LEAST $15 BILLION CHEAPER THAN THEY PUBLICLY CLAIMED

 
Secret figures have revealed in 2013 the Liberal-National Government knew Labor’s Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) plan could be deployed significantly cheaper, contradicting their ridiculous and deceptive public statements.
 
As exposed in today’s report:

“Savings worth $850 to $1150 were estimated to be achievable for each existing home attached with fibre under the radically redesigned plan. These savings included the use of more cost-efficient network architecture and materials worth $300 to $450 per home or business, a further $50 to $100 from cost-efficient construction techniques and $500 to $600 from increased labour productivity.

However, sources with knowledge of the NBN Co’s business operations say cost efficiency improvements were already happening in 2013 and would have been introduced without a radical redesign.

If the lowest level of estimated savings was applied to homes in the existing full fibre rollout at the time, peak funding could have been reduced from $73 billion to about $60 billion. Interest rates associated with the debt were estimated at a relatively high 6.9 per cent by 2024. A further $5 billion to $6 billion in savings may then have been achievable due to lower debt overall and with interest rates below 4 per cent.”

These figures indicate the cost of Labor’s original Fibre to the Premises rollout would be between $15 billion to $19 billion cheaper than the Liberals have claimed.
 
Furthermore, today’s report indicates the cost per households for FTTP was between $2,950 and $3,250 — squarely in the range experts always said it would be. 
 
For nearly a decade, the Liberals have claimed Labor’s original fibre rollout would have cost $72 billion. Today’s report shows they were making these claims in the full knowledge this figure was a hoax.
 
The Government’s own secret figures show a full-fibre rollout to 93 per cent of Australians could have been delivered for nearly $53 billion.
 
The cost of the Liberals’ copper-dominated mess is now forecast at $57 billion, and it will have higher operating and capital costs for decades to come.
 
By engaging in this grand deception, the Liberals have put politics above people and robbed Australians of a first-rate fibre NBN.
 
Worse still, they have deployed a dud copper NBN that is nearly $30 billion over budget, delivers slower speeds and is less reliable.
 
The Morrison Government has serious questions to answer about why taxpayers, families and businesses were dudded on their watch.

MONDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2021