NBN closes in on its rollout target date

THE company behind the national broadband network says it is on track to complete the rollout by mid next year as the pace of construction picks up.

NBN Co yesterday announced 8.1 million premises were connected or ready for connection by the end of December — up 32 per cent over the past year.

About 70 per cent of Aus- tralian homes and business could now be connected to the NBN, the group said. More than 4.6 million of them are already connected.

The update comes amid concerns about the project ahead of the federal election.

NBN Co has a target date to complete the rollout of June next year. Chief executive Stephen Rue yesterday said the latest numbers should dispel some of the concerns.

“I have full confidence in our ability to reach our 2020 target as our strong track record demonstrates,” he said.

Mr Rue said the pace of the rollout would accelerate this year.

“With less than 18 months of the rollout remaining, there is a significant amount of work still to be done in partnership with the industry as we continue our momentum to deliver on our biggest-ever deployment year and transition into our biggest activation year,” he said.

NBN Co also yesterday announced it had lifted its average revenue for each user — a key performance yardstick — in the six months to December.

It clocked in at $45 a month, up from $44 in the six months to December 2017. The company has set a final target of $51 for the 2022 financial year.

Total revenue rose 46 per cent to $1.3 billion. The increase in the overall footprint helped NBN Co narrow its first-half net loss from $2.64 billion to $2.15 billion.

However, the latest numbers are unlikely to dampen calls for a significant overhaul of the NBN business model.

Analysts have forecast a writedown on the $51 billion project and Telstra has warned NBN Co’s high wholesale prices are unsustainable.