The NBN HFC Rollout Delay Could Cost $790 Million, According To NBN’s Own Figures

Yesterday it was announced that NBN was putting an immediate halt to any new HFC connections while it makes “crucial upgrades” for existing customers. An analysis of the 2016 NBN Corporate Plan, approved by the NBN board and signed off by Shareholder Ministers, shows the cost of this action could cost taxpayers between $420 to $790 million.

NBN HFC Rollout Halted To 'Improve Customer Experience' NBN just announced a whole bunch of new initiatives it hopes will "raise the standard of service quality" to the Hybrid Coaxial-Fibre part of the network. To do so, new connections have been halted, effective immediately. </p> <p>If you are in an area set to get HFC, and haven't already - this means you're going to be waiting at least six months longer for your NBN. Read more

The plan is available for anyone to read here.

Here’s the bit you want to see, though:

As pointed out by Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland and Shadow Minister for Finance Jim Chambers, a seven month delay in HFC activations profile would have a $1 billion impact on rollout funding.

“On 24 May 2017, the Senate had NBN confirm the $1 billion figure was based on a seven month delay, for three million services, with an average revenue of $47 per month,” the pair said in a join statement released today.

“It has now been revealed that problems with Turnbull’s second-rate NBN could further delay the HFC rollout by 6 to 9 months for up to 2.5 million premises.”

So based on the figures signed off by the NBN Board – these delays could impact funding by between $420 and $790 million.

We have reached out to NBN for a statement.

Turnbull Slammed Over NBN HFC Delay: 'What Have You Been Hiding?' The Shadow Minister for Communications has asked Malcolm Turnbull the question many have been thinking. "What are you hiding from the Australian people about the HFC network? What have you been hiding?"</p> <p>The question comes following the announcement from NBN HFC rollout has been "paused" - effective immediately - while work is carried out on existing connections. Read more