NBN Co appoints HFC construction partners

Construction partners will accelerate the deployment of HFC technology as NBN Co strives to scale up its offering.

NBN Co has picked six construction partners to speed up the rollout of the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) portion of the National Broadband Network (NBN), with the company switching its attention to homes and businesses in the Telstra HFC footprint.

The company has appointed Lend Lease, Broadspectrum, Fulton Hogan, Downer, ISGM and BSA as its delivery partners. The six delivery partners will look to accelerate the deployment of HFC technology as NBN Co aims to scale up its multi-technology offering.

The Telstra footprint covers almost 3.5 million premises and some of them are likely to end up with a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) connection. The financial details of the agreements were not fully disclosed but a NBN Co spokesman said that the deals were covered under the company’s peak funding envelope approved by the federal government.

Broadspectrum, formerly known as Transfield Services, has signed up for a four-year stint to deliver the network in Sydney and Melbourne metropolitan areas, with the deal potentially valued at up to $60 million in the first year.

Meanwhile, Melbourne-based ISGM has signed a new five-year contract to roll out the HFC infrastructure to more than 50,000 Victorian premises, starting in the Wheelers Hill area in August.

NBN Co got the ball rolling on its HFC product in June on the former Optus network in Redcliffe Queensland and the company’s chief network engineering officer Peter Ryan said the company was now in a position to deploy the technology at scale.

“With this process we have ensured the most appropriate delivery partners are doing the work,” Mr Ryan said.

“They have enormous experience in construction in the telecommunications industry which will help us roll it out faster.”