NBN BRINGS CHRISTMAS CHEER
WE CAN expect faster broadband plans in time for Christmas, says the man in charge of rolling out the country’s national broadband network.
It’s been a busy few weeks for NBN chief executive Bill Morrow. After going on a media blitz to coincide with ABC’s Four Corners program which reported on problems with the NBN, Mr Morrow spent a night being grilled by politicians at Senate estimates.
The NBN boss faced questions on the so-called digital divide in Australia between those with superior fibre connections to the home and Australians being serviced by copper along the final length of the connection. He refuted the notion that the multi technology mix NBN created a divide, saying it was an insult to those still waiting for fast broadband to arrive.
He also fielded questions on the threat of 5G mobile broadband to the NBN and the troublesome pricing structure of the wholesale network which the ISPs complain is too expensive.
The NBN charges retailers like Telstra, TPG and Aussie Broadband an access fee as well as a network capacity charge for the amount of bandwidth they want to provide their customers, called the Connectivity Virtual Circuit fee. When ISPs skimp on this, it causes problems for the end user.
When asked about the current pricing review under way by NBN Co, Mr Morrow said he expected to have better value broadband plans by the end of the year.
“We are hoping that we can put something (to the) public by the end of the year ... there will be an announcement before Christmas, I promise you that,” Mr Morrow said.
“If we can do something to say how about we have a far more attractive price that gives you a 50mb speed product, and we have some inclusive CVC that comes with that, and an attractive growth rate thereafter, now we are talking,” he said.
In order to break even, the NBN needs to collect about $52 per month from retail service providers per connection, Mr Morrow has previously said. Currently they are collecting about $43.
The NBN boss also defended the decision to pay $109 million in bonuses to company staff despite complaints about the network rising considerably in the past year.
Mr Morrow was paid $3.6 million in the past financial year, but said he took a 7 per cent cut to his bonus for the period.