Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham

The Morrison Government has today released its new Statement of Expectations to guide the NBN, now that the broadband network has completed its initial roll-out and is fully operational.

The Government also welcomed NBN Co’s Corporate Plan, which the company has released today and which responds to the Statement. 

Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the Government has clear objectives for NBN Co: to maximise the social and economic benefits of the network and support Australia’s becoming a leading digital economy by 2030.

“NBN Co is moving into a new phase, with the rollout complete, and its increasingly strong financial results mean that retained earnings can be directed into further enhancing the digital capability of Australia,” Minister Fletcher said.

“The Government expects that NBN Co takes a demand driven approach in making commercially sound investments to meet the current and future needs of Australian households and businesses, wherever they live.

“The Statement also has a strong focus on NBN Co’s ongoing role in improving outcomes in regional and remote Australia, supporting retailers to deliver affordable, reliable and resilient services to consumers, and promoting competition and innovation.”

Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham said the Corporate Plan laid out by the NBN Co would provide a sound transition to their operational phase. 

“The company will focus on growing its revenues, reducing costs, and allow for ongoing investment in the network to meet the changing needs of households and businesses,” Minister Birmingham said.

“This will empower the NBN Co to continue providing Australians with access to a fast, reliable broadband network, at the least possible cost to the taxpayer. 

“Significantly, the Statement also sets out the Morrison Government’s expectations of accountability by the NBN Co’s Board to meet the highest standards of transparency and governance for corporate and government-owned entities.”

The Ministers also welcomed today’s announcement by NBN Co identifying the locations of an additional 300,000 homes and businesses which will be able to access ultrafast internet speeds of up to 1 Gbps (one gigabit per second, otherwise known as 1,000 megabits per second -- or blazing fast broadband).

This is a further step towards delivering on NBN Co’s commitment, as part of the $4.5 billion network investment plan announced last year, that two million premises presently on the fibre to the node footprint will be able to order a service of up to 1Gbps by 2023.

In total, NBN Co’s commitment is to make speeds of up to 1Gbps available to around 8 million premises, or up to 75 per cent of homes and businesses in the fixed line network footprint, by 2023.

For more information on the Statement visit https://www.communications.gov.au/publications/nbnstatementofexpectations

For more information NBN Co’s Corporate Plan visit https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/about-nbn-co/corporate-plan/corporate-plan