Australia’s NBN Says Costs Are Too High, Suspends Tenders
NBN Co., the Australian government- owned builder of a national broadband network, suspended the bidding process because proposed construction costs are too high.
“We have said all along that we are building an NBN, but not at any price,” Kevin Brown, the company’s head of corporate services, said today in a statement. “We will not proceed on the basis of prices we are currently being offered.” The broadband project, estimated since last year by the government to cost A$36 billion ($37 billion), is intended to connect 93 percent of all Australian homes to a fiber-based, high-speed, Internet network. It’s the biggest infrastructure project in the country’s history. “NBN Co. does not regard current pricing reflects capacity constraints,” Brown said. “We are progressing a different approach that we think will produce a better result.”