NBN achievements can’t be ignored

Ziggy Switkowski is chair of NBN Co. He's reflecting on the history of the project and its future. Photograph by Paul Jeffers The Australian 03 July 2020

It’s with great pride that eleven years after NBN was established as a Government Business Enterprise and the nation’s largest ever start-up, we can place a symbolic full stop in this chapter of the national broadband network’s history.

At the close of the 2019/20 fiscal year, this company has achieved what many thought impossible by fulfilling its Corporate Plan objectives to roll out this network across the nation and complete the initial construction phase of this critical piece of communications infrastructure.

More than 11.7 million households and businesses can connect to the network today and 7.3 million have already done so. After the migration to NBN is completed, and taking into consideration population growth, this figure is expected to approach nine million connected premises in 2024, representing a broadband uptake within the range forecast from the beginning of this massive project.

There have been other big achievements on the way to this point. We’ve ended the year with our first billion-dollar revenue quarter, connections continue with strong momentum, and we’ve helped support the nation through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our expended external funding has just reached $50 billion – $29.5 billion in the form of Commonwealth equity and a further $20.5 billion in government and private sector debt.

This funding has underpinned the physical build, but more importantly it’s underwritten the social and economic benefits that access to fast broadband enables. New research conducted this year by economics advisory firm AlphaBeta, has found that based on the current trajectory, it is estimated that the NBN network will enable an extra 86,000 new jobs, and increase GDP by a forecast $21bn per annum, by 2024. This type of stimulus and contribution to the prosperity of Australia is all the more important given the lasting impact that the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the economy.

Of course, there is no sharp line when we can declare ‘job done’. New housing developments are being built and require connection, some very complex installations may still take months to complete, and a number of heritage, landowner and other considerations mean that there are always around 150,000 premises classified as work-in-progress. From here on, I expect we will remain at or near 99 per cent complete.

AAP Manly Daily Rick Masotto photographed in the Fibre store at Prysmian cable factory, Cromer on Monday, 25 May 2020. Prysmian cable factory is providing cable for NBN rollout across the country. (AAP Image / Monique Harmer)

The current CEO, Stephen Rue, his executive team, the 6,500 people of the NBN company, and the 20,000 contractor and subcontractor field staff have combined to get this extraordinary construction project to the symbolic finish line.

Self-evidently, the contributions of the first CEO, Mike Quigley, and former CEO, Bill Morrow, have also been significant and important.

The decade-long history of NBN has been controversial and colourful. Let me elaborate on five formative issues in chronological order.

At the beginning there was the groundbreaking political decision to recreate a regulated telecommunications monopoly via a start-up, independent of existing players and networks, and with the government owning, financing, constructing, and operating critical national infrastructure, ultimately to be privatised.

Then the selection of the multi-technology architecture which aimed to provide universal broadband services to this vast country, a fit-for-purpose network design favouring speed of execution, and least cost to the taxpayer, with the ability to upgrade over time. This was considered to be a better approach compared to the expense and extended timeline of deploying a full fibre alternative when in many parts of the country there was poor or no connectivity at all.

Then followed the emergence of wireless broadband as a credible complement or, in some cases, alternative to fixed broadband – initially 4G, now 5G, eventually 6G and more. The combination of world class, lightly regulated and competing wireless networks and affordable access to a ubiquitous fixed network (plus satellite and fixed wireless for remote households) retailed by scores of service providers ensures all Australians benefit from state of the art telecommunications platforms with which to engage and succeed in the online world.

The arrival of Netflix in 2015 coincided with the availability of affordable large screen TVs to launch the streaming video era, which for a time hinted at a destiny for NBN as primarily a residential entertainment network, streaming and eGames, rather than the means by which national productivity would be increased, our industry competitiveness improved, small to medium businesses stimulated, and standard of living enhanced especially in regional and remote areas.

But the occurrence of the coronavirus pandemic reversed this short-lived perception and showed the mission-criticality of NBN to help provide social connectivity when isolation was mandated, to enable working and schooling from home, to provide a robust platform so that tomorrow’s online businesses and services might be fast tracked today. Telehealth is an early winner starting with virtual doctor visits.

The current accelerated digitisation trend, stimulated by the nation’s response to the pandemic, reminds me of the saying “’there are years when nothing happens, and there are weeks when years happen” (with apologies to Lenin).

The years ahead promise to be as eventful. Such is the history of communications where predictions of futureproof platforms or technologies or shifting consumer needs are frequently found to be wide of the mark or naive.

NBN still has work to do to ensure all Australians have access to affordable, high speed, resilient and secure broadband. As planned, and as funding allows, fibre will be pushed deeper into the network. Any pockets of poor performance will be remediated. New technologies will be adopted as they become available and cost competitive.

Connectivity between devices, sensors, cameras, drones, autonomous vehicles and so on may yet shape the future communications ecosystem and further enhance the value of NBN assets.

The intense COVID-19 experience has encouraged better forms of collaboration between industry players including content providers and regulators. This spirit should survive into the post pandemic phase.

And there is no doubt that the NBN of the next decade will build upon, but be different to, that of the past as it responds to new demand and challenges.

It will however remain as a purpose-led, valued partner, innovative, customer-friendly, commercial, but with the national interest and the digital needs of every Australian at its heart.

Ziggy Switkowski is Chair, NBN Co