Australia to Review Fiber Network With Rollout 50% Behind Target

Australia will review its national fiber network as the rollout falls 50 percent behind targets and the new Communications Minister sought resignations from all directors of the government-backed company building the project.

NBN Co.’s target for the number of buildings with fiber broadband connections by the end of June 2014 has been revised down by half, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. About 1.3 million premises would have had access to the network by that date, according to the company’s most recent corporate plan. Turnbull has previously criticized the project, estimated to cost about A$44 billion ($41 billion) by the previous government, for missed targets and cost overruns. About 33,600 homes and businesses were using the fiber network at the end of June, with 207,500 premises connected to the cables, compared to a target of more than 2 million connections in NBN Co.’s earlier 2011 corporate plan. Turnbull and Prime Minister Tony Abbott have promised to connect all households to high-speed Internet by 2016 for A$30 billion, saving money by running the fiber only as far as junction boxes as much as a kilometer from homes and covering the remaining distance using existing copper wires. The previous government’s plan would have run fiber direct to almost every home and workplace in the country.