The company behind the National Broadband Network, NBN Co, has announced its chief executive officer, Bill Morrow, will step down this year.

Key points: Bill Morrow says it's "the right time to hand over the reins for the next phase"

Bill Morrow says it's "the right time to hand over the reins for the next phase" Mr Morrow has been in the role since April 2014

Mr Morrow has been in the role since April 2014 Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Morrow had done an "amazing job"

Mr Morrow has been in the role since April 2014. He said it was the right time to leave.

"I believe that as the company prepares to confront the new challenges ahead, this is the right time to hand over the reins for the next phase of this incredible project and for me to plan for the next step in my career," he said.

Last October, he told Four Corners the fast pace of the rollout was leading to compromises and it "turned his stomach" that customers were getting left behind.

He also admitted complaints about the rollout were still too high last year, promising they would fix it in three to six months.

He said NBN Co was on track to eventually make a financial return.

The company's latest corporate plan said 80 per cent of the population will be able to connect to the NBN by the end of this year.

PM says Morrow has been a 'great CEO'

Malcolm Turnbull, who was communications minister before becoming Prime Minister, thanked Mr Morrow at a press conference this morning, saying he had done an "amazing job".

"He's been a great CEO. He's done a great job and what he's doing, very responsibly, is giving plenty of notice of his departure so that they can look around for a new CEO," he said.

Mr Turnbull has previously said many of the NBN's problems were caused by the way the project was designed.

"I appointed [Mr Morrow] chief executive after we came into government in 2013," Mr Turnbull said.

"The National Broadband Network project was a complete train wreck that we inherited from the Labor Party and it was really the biggest turnaround, I would think, in Australian history.

"Bill is a great leader. He's turned the project around. It is now about two-thirds finished and it's well on track to be completed by 2020."

But former prime minister Kevin Rudd rejected Mr Turnbull's claims last year, saying "what we had planned and began to rollout was perfectly designed for this nation's needs — fibre optic to the home, to the premises, to the shop, to the school, to the hospital".

"You cut that off [and] frankly the changes lie all on your head," he said.

Minister for Communications Mitch Fifield and Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann also thanked Mr Morrow for his "outstanding leadership".

In a joint statement, they said under Mr Morrow's guidance, the NBN has "met all of its operational and financial targets".

NBN chairman Ziggy Switkowski said a global search would be undertaken to find a new CEO.