Australian NBN Co Awards Multiple Contracts for In-Premises Equipment

SYDNEY - Australia's NBN Co, which is building a nationwide FTTH network, announced contracts worth up to $635 million (634 million USD) over the next five years to six companies.

The six successful companies include Madison Technologies, Warren & Brown, Corning Cable Systems, TE Connectivity, 3M and a partnership between the Australian company Optimal and U.S. company OFS. All the companies are either based in Australia or have strong local presences there.

In addition to the local employment generated within these companies from their Australian operations, NBN Co estimates that up to $150 million of the total spend on in-premises equipment will be locally produced.

The types of components supplied include internal fiber distribution hubs for apartment communities and offices, internal cables, wall outlets, patch leads, and devices that will house the connection of the fiber from the street to the outsides of premises. These components will be used by NBN Co and its contractors for free standard installations when residents and business owners order services.

NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley says, “We have worked to domestically source as much equipment for the NBN as possible. However, we needed to balance costs against the preference for Australian-made to arrive at a cost-effective result.

“As we only recently announced our 12-month rollout schedule – with construction to start in areas covering over half a million premises – today’s announcement is an important part of the development of our supply chain. We have sourced a range of equipment to form a catalog of consistent, quality components that our installation contractors can use to suit different housing and commercial building types.

“We have now put in place most of the equipment supply arrangements that we need for the rollout initially, but plan to go to the market as the rollout ramps up to source additional suppliers for a range of our equipment needs,” Quigley adds.

The National Broadband Network has already passed more than 18,000 homes, and the NBN Co has announced plans to offer broadband network services to every one of Australia's 13 million premises.