Asked why he was jumping on the internet after solar panels, Mr Rich said it wasn't as big a leap as most people thought.

"There are a lot of parallels to energy. Broadband is being classed as an essential service," he said.

"In energy, there is also a transition from fossil fuels to renewables, which is gaining huge momentum. The same is happening in broadband with the change in copper, coaxial cable in the ground to fibre-optic cable and trying to connect all the homes and businesses in Australia to that high-speed network.

"There is a lot of fibre in the ground. It's just a matter of connecting individual residences, new developments and businesses to that fibre-optic network in an efficient and effective manner. That's where the opportunity exists to be able to connect homes to high-speed internet. And it's a short window of opportunity before others start to do that."

Mr Rich said the challenge most businesses faced was funding the "last mile" of fibre network from a home to the "backbone" of the internet, which can be expensive.