![]() | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: missing progress from 2020; many predictions have passed.(June 2021) |
The National Broadband Network had its origins in 2006 when the Federal Labor Opposition led by Kim Beazley committed the Australian Labor Party, if elected to government to a 'super-fast' national broadband network. Initial attempts to engage key businesses in Australian telecommunications in planning and development; and implementation and operation failed with NBN Co being set up in 2010 to have carriage of the 'largest infrastructure' project in Australia's history.
Completion of the project is anticipated to be in the early 2020s.
On 11 August 2005 Sol Trujillo, the newly appointed CEO of Telstra, gave his first presentation, "The Digital Compact & National Broadband Plan: Enabling Regulatory Reform" [1] to both the Howard government and select investors. Australian Securities Exchange continuous disclosure rules forced the presentation to be shared with all investors, published on Telstra & ASX sites. This is one of the earliest uses of "National Broadband Plan", the origin of the $4.7 billion of Government equity to build a 12 Mbit/s FTTN NBN, "94% Rural" and "99% Urban". There were two other proposed options, for 6 Mbit/s for $2.6B and 1.5 Mbit/s for $1.1B. [PDF page 47 of TLS-339, pg 15 of "National Broadband Plan" slides.]
The opposition Labor Party proposed that if elected, it would commence the construction of a 'super fast' national broadband network (NBN). The initial proposal would see fibre to the node (FTTN) technology for 98% of Australian households with a minimum speed of 12 Mbit/s, and the remaining 2% would "have improved broadband services". [2] [3] [4] The network was initially estimated to cost A$15 billion including a government contribution of A$4.7 billion which would be raised in part by selling the Federal Government's remaining shares in Telstra. [5]
The Howard government's $2 billion broadband plan would see regional areas to get WiMAX wireless and ADSL2+ broadband. At no cost to the tax-payers, the private sector would tender to build a FTTN broadband network in built-up areas capable of delivering internet speeds of up to 50 Mbit/s. [6]
The Labor Party won the November 2007 federal election, and the Rudd government was sworn into office on 3 December. Soon afterwards, Senator Stephen Conroy announced the newly elected government's commitment to building a national high-speed broadband FTTN network. [7]
Request for Proposal (RFP) to build the NBN issued, compliant proposals were received from Acacia, Axia NetMedia, Optus on behalf of Terria, TransACT and the Government of Tasmania (covering their respective states only), [8] [9] [10] [11] a non-compliant proposal was received from Telstra and they were excluded from consideration. [12] [13]
There were suggestions that if the project were to go ahead, Telstra's exclusion could lead to them being entitled to compensation estimated at A$15–20 billion. [14] [15]
Bidders who lodged compliant proposals were neither able to meet the government's requirements nor able to raise the necessary capital during the global financial crisis, the RFP was terminated on 7 April 2009. [16]
After terminating its initial RFP, the Rudd Government announced it would bypass the existing copper network by constructing a new national network combining fibre to the premises (FTTP), fixed wireless and satellite technologies. [17] The FTTP rollout was planned to reach approximately 93% of premises in Australia by June 2021.
For each percentage point of coverage above 93%, FTTP build costs become prohibitive because of a low population density. [18] However, the FTTP footprint could be expanded where users or communities were willing to pay the incremental costs of installing FTTP. [19]
The FTTP rollout was to gradually replace the copper network then owned by Telstra and used for most telephone and data services. As part of an agreement with NBN Co, Telstra was to move its customers to the NBN, and lease space in its telephone exchanges and access to its extensive network ducting.
Tasmania was selected for a trial deployment based on the Tasmanian Government's submission to the RFP. [16]
At the same time, the federal government threatened to force a structural separation of Telstra. [20] [21]
The Rudd Government estimated to the capital expenditure of the project initially to be A$43 billion. NBN Co later revised down the cost in its business plan to A$37.4 billion. [22] The project was to be financed by a combination of a Federal Government investment of A$30.4 billion and private investment for the remainder. [22]
NBN Co intends to begin paying dividends back to the Federal Government in 2021, and to have fully repaid the Government's contribution by 2034. [23] NBN Co's business plan forecasts a return on investment of 7.1%, expecting to turnover revenue of A$23.1 billion by 2021. [24]
NBN Co was established on 9 April 2009. [25] [26] Mike Quigley was appointed chief executive officer on 25 July 2009. [27]
An implementation study was commissioned in April 2009 and released on 6 May 2010 by the Rudd Government. [28] McKinsey & Company and KPMG concluded the NBN can be implemented and made 84 recommendations in the study, including expanding the fibre footprint to 93 per cent from the original 90 per cent. [29]
In April 2010, NBN Co began a tender for the major FTTP rollout. Fourteen vendors submitted a proposal; however, NBN Co suspended the process on 1 April 2011, as the prices were 'unacceptably high'. [30]
Tony Abbott, as Leader of the Opposition, and Malcolm Turnbull, as Shadow Minister for Communications, indicated in 2010 that they would 'demolish' the NBN. [31] [32] They argued that the demand for such a service was not significant, [note 1] and thus the estimated cost was too high and the timeline for implementation too long.
3 days before the election, at the 2010 Charles Todd Memorial Oration [35] [36] of the Australian Computer Society, Mike Quigley attacked the Coalition broadband proposals in breach of the Caretaker conventions [37]
2010 Australian federal election with the election of the minority Gillard government led to priority being given to regional and rural areas. [38] [39] Also an increase in the peak speed to one gigabit per second was announced [40] in response to Google Fiber [41]
NBN Co released its business plan on 20 December 2010, including forecasts and network design. [42]
Changes to the Business plan included an increase in the peak speed to one gigabit per second, [40] in response to Google Fiber [41] and giving 'priority' to regional and rural areas during the rollout following the events after the 2010 election. [38] [39] It has been argued that the early sites chosen for the NBN were selected due to political reasons. [43]
Tasmania was selected as the first state [44] to begin the rollout of the NBN, based on the Tasmanian Government's 'shovel ready' [45] submission to the RFP for the original NBN. [16] A new company, NBN Tasmania (previously Tasmania NBN Co), [46] was formed on 8 April 2009 to build the NBN in Tasmania. [47] The company was planned to be a joint-venture between NBN Co, Aurora Energy and the Tasmanian Government. [45] The Tasmanian Government also floated an idea to invest A$12.7 million in Aurora Energy to get access to its fibre network; however, the joint-venture and deal were both cancelled on 9 November 2010 when the negotiations reached an impasse. [45] [48] Although the joint-venture was cancelled, Aurora Energy still plays a role in the construction of the NBN in Tasmania. [49]
The trial rollout in Tasmania comprises three stages. Stage one was announced on July 2009 with the first customers being connected a year later. [33] [34] Stage one included connections to premises in Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point [49] and construction of fibre 'backbones' from Port Latta to Smithton, Cambridge to Midway Point, Midway Point to Triabunna, George Town to Scottsdale and Scottsdale to St Helens. [50] On completion of stage one, 4,000 premises were offered fibre installation; 51 agreed to be 'NBN Ready' (at no cost), but only 10.9% actually took up the service. [51] As of 6 May 2011, 712 premises had an active service and 11 premises were awaiting service activation by a retail service provider (RSP). [49]
The Tasmanian Parliament passed opt-out legislation on 18 November 2010, [52] to allow NBN Co to install fibre connections to premises unless the property owners explicitly decline the installation. [53] The fibre connection is free, however, if the installation is declined and a connection is ordered at a later date, NBN Co may charge a connection fee. [54] The bill passed the Tasmanian lower house with the support of all members. [52]
During his second reading speech, Premier of Tasmania David Bartlett said the take-up rates were 'a good early result'; however, he said it was 'important to increase the participation rate'. [54] In his closing remarks, Bartlett said '[the] NBN in Tasmania is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create jobs and contribute to a new economic direction'. [55] In her second reading speech on behalf of the Tasmanian Opposition, Elise Archer said 'the NBN is an important infrastructure', but that 'the State Liberals have some concern that the NBN business model seems to rely more and more on eliminating competition and other technologies'. [56]
Stages two and three were announced on 21 October 2009 and 1 March 2010, respectively. Approximately 11,150 premises in Sorell, Deloraine, George Town, St Helens, Triabunna, Kingston Beach and South Hobart were included in stage two. [57] [58] Stage three includes approximately 90,000 premises in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie. [59] Stage two will include a trial of expanding the FTTP footprint to areas not included in the initial rollout. The trial will allow individuals and councils to pay the incremental cost of a fibre connection over fixed wireless in order to receive a fibre connection from NBN Co. The costs will include provisioning further space in exchanges and rolling out additional fibre optic cables. [60]
At the time of launch, the access prices for RSPs were temporarily set at a flat rate of A$300 per premises with no ongoing monthly charges. [61] Mike Quigley said one of the reasons for the flat rate is the OSS and BSS systems was not built to make the process automatic. He continued if NBN Co charged a monthly charge without the systems, it would have been a 'very manually intensive process' and not a 'sensible proposition'. [62] However, RSPs did charge a monthly fee to customers, to cover the cost of the trial. [62]
Of the first 4000 residences in Hobart, only 10.9% have actually taken up a service. [51] However, as part of the agreement with Telstra is to decommission the existing copper network as the NBN becomes available, this is not considered as representative of the ultimate NBN adoption by customers. [63]
The Parliament passed the National Broadband Network Companies Act 2011 and a related bill on 28 March 2011 [64] with amendments by the Greens and independent senators adopted on 26 March 2011. [65] The amendments centred around transparency, freedom of information and competition concerns, including the adoption of uniform national wholesale prices for NBN connections. [66] [67] The Government has required support from the Greens to pass NBN legislation through the Parliament. The Greens have voted in favour of NBN legislation, but have also won support for amendments that make NBN Co subject to freedom of information laws, [68] and that make any proposal to privatise the NBN subject to review by the Parliament and by the Productivity Commission. [69]
Fourteen vendors submitted a proposal; however, NBN Co suspended the process on 1 April 2011, as the prices were 'unacceptably high'. [30]
NBN Co entered into an agreement worth up to A$380 million with Silcar on 1 June 2011. The agreement covered the construction of the NBN in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory by Silcar, a company joint-owned by Siemens and Thiess. [70] The agreement also includes the option of a two-year extension with an additional value of A$740 million. [71]
NBN Co signed an agreement with Telstra on 23 June 2011 estimated to be worth A$9 billion post-tax net present value, [72] building upon the signing of a financial heads of agreement a year beforehand. [73]
Instead of separating wholesale and retail operations, Telstra agreed to 'disconnect' [74] its Internet customers from the copper and hybrid fibre-coaxial networks in areas where FTTP has been installed, and agreed to lease dark fibre, exchange space and ducts to NBN Co. as part of the agreement, Telstra would not be able to market their mobile network as an alternative to the NBN for a number of years. [72]
The agreement with Telstra required that the copper telephone network be decommissioned in an area 18 months after optic fibre is ready for service and that new connections were to be made to the optic fibre network and not the copper network. In some cases, premises have been left without service due to lengthy delays in establishing NBN connections. Telstra advises the use of the mobile network for phone and internet in these cases. [75] [76]
NBN Co signed an agreement with Optus over its hybrid fibre-coaxial network estimated to be worth A$800 million post-tax net present value. [77] The ACCC—whose approval is required before both agreements take effect—raised concerns about the clauses being anti-competitive. [78]
Five areas comprising around 14,000 premises were chosen as the 'first mainland sites', each representing rollout challenges the NBN was expecting to face during an Australia-wide rollout, with the first services going live on 19 April 2011. [79] [80] [81] commenced on 17 August 2010, [82] [83]
These figures are for passive installation of a dark fibre to the premises. To activate it residence need to purchase a service from an RSP. [89]
Furthermore, following the low take up rates in Tasmania, the government has adopted an opt-out model in which users are assumed to want the service unless they explicitly opt-out. [90]
Thus passive installation figures may be quite different from the proportion of residences that actually use the NBN service.
Fourteen second release sites comprising 54,000 premises in all states and territories were announced on 8 July 2010 with construction commencing in August 2011. [91]
The sites comprise premises in Aspley, Bacchus Marsh, Casuarina, Coffs Harbour, Geraldton, Gungahlin, Mandurah, Modbury, Prospect, Riverstone, South Morang, Springfield Lakes, Toowoomba and Victoria Park. [92] [93]
Telstra had agreed to allow NBN Co to use its exchanges and ducts in the second release sites before the agreement was finalised.
The opposition Liberal/National Coalition's Malcolm Turnbull addressed significant attacks on the NBN, these focused on the estimated cost and timeline for implementation and the build cost, with specific attacks on the expense of the Long Term Satellite Service. [94]
Later they commented that in government they would take an 'agnostic' approach. [95]
The MTM was selected as the approach to broadband provision by the Liberal–National coalition in the lead up to the 2013 Australian federal election. [96] [97]
After the 2013 election, the Abbott government, with Malcolm Turnbull as Minister for Communications, [98] the new communications minister Malcolm Turnbull announced immediate changes to the government's NBN plans: [99] [100] much of the NBN Board was asked to resign; [101] Ziggy Switkowski was appointed new chairman. [102] Turnbull announced that the FTTP rollout would continue in the short term, with the probability that rollout will be downgraded to 'alternative technologies' such as Fibre to the node after a 60-day review was completed. [103]
A number of studies and a strategic review into the NBN were commissioned. The strategic review was to determine the ideal infrastructure mix to deliver fast broadband across the country as quickly as possible and reduce establishment costs. [104] [105]
On 12 December 2013, the NBN Board appointed Bill Morrow as NBNCo's new CEO, replacing Mike Quigley. [106] Quigley had announced his intention to resign from NBNCo in July 2013. [107] Morrow resigned from his role as CEO of Vodafone Australia to accept the appointment with NBNCo.
Telstra responded to the prospect of changes by asserting its intention to retain the $11bn value it generates from the previous government's deal. [108]
The NBN faced delays due to a lack of skilled fibre splicers in Australia and some work had to be re-done due to the inadequate training given to many of the workers. [109]
Delays and health concerns occurred in 2013 when work was stopped for several weeks at a number of sites after asbestos was found in Telstra pits. [110] [111]
After the 2013 election, the former communications minister Stephen Conroy conceded that the initial rollout plans were 'too ambitious' and that there were delays in implementation. [112]
Malcolm Turnbull announced in 2013 that the NBN would be delivered using a mix of old and new technology, a Multi-Technology Mix, stating that it would allow significant savings on the earlier Fibre to the Premises and earlier completion to the approach chosen by the Gillard and Rudd governments. [113] [114] The MTM has been the focus of criticism regarding cost overruns and the delay in delivering the NBN. [115] [116]
The MTM includes:
At 3 November 2013, construction of the network had passed 354,793 premises and there were 109,862 active customer services. [117] In areas where the FTTP network is being rolled out, a similar agreement with Optus is in place.
In April 2014, The Australian newspaper judged the NBN rollout in Tasmania, its first location, as 'shambolic' and 'abysmal'. [118]
The MTM approach finalised with the Abbott government promising significant savings on the earlier Fibre To The Premises and earlier completion to the approach chosen by the Gillard and Rudd governments. [113] [119]
Initial costs and timing for the Coalition NBN were A$29.5 billion of public funding to construct by 2019. [96]
In December a new agreement was finalised with Telstra and Optus for purchase of copper and HFC networks, for a similar cost to the existing compensation for shutting down those networks. Telstra accepted $11B for its part of the network, less a discount for a “remediation credit” where parts of the network required maintenance. [120]
In February 2014 the government produced the MyBroadband [121] website to provide information about access to the internet. It showed that there were 1.6 million premises across Australia with either no access to fixed broadband or very poor broadband connectivity. [122]
The Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated that the black spots would be a higher priority, [123] without however directing NBN Co address them. [124] There is concern that the NBN will continue to focus on areas that already have relatively fast copper broadband, and thus avoid addressing people that have no or very limited broadband for the foreseeable future. [123] [125] In May 2014 then NBN announced that it would be targeting premises that were already serviced with fibre by rival TPG. [126]
In 2015, Quigley criticised cost blowouts in the NBN, saying they were the fault of changes made to the rollout plan introduced by the Coalition government. [127] [128] [129] [130]
Sky Muster I (NBN-Co 1A) was launched on 1 October 2015 [131] from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, South America, alongside Argentina's ARSAT-2, on an Ariane 5ECA rocket.
At 30 June 2015, the company announced 1,011,973 premises are now able to order NBN services. Of that, 571,527 brownfields and 180,796 greenfields premises are able to order fixed-line services, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. An additional 220,917 premises are able to order services in fixed wireless, and 38,743 premises have connected to the interim satellite service. [132] There were 485,615 active users. [133]
With Malcolm Turnbull becoming Prime Minister of Australia, Mitch Fifield became the Minister for the communications portfolio, and thus the NBN.
Substantial cost over-runs and delays in the delivery of the MTM have subsequently been reported. [116] [134] [135]
Sky Muster I (NBN-Co 1A) became operational in April 2016. [136]
Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) was launched on 5 October 2016. [137]
At 30 June 2016, the company had passed 2,893,474 premises across all technologies. [138] Company annual revenue was $421 million compared to $164 million in 2015 financial year, with approximately 1,100,000 active user at June 30. [133]
A September 2017 report by the Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network found significant issues with the technology used by the NBN and the performance of NBN Co, all but one of the Coalition members of the committee released a dissenting report strongly defending the NBN and NBN Co. [139] [140] [141]
In response to the imminent broadcast of a documentary critical of the performance of the NBN on Four Corners , Malcolm Turnbull stated that the NBN was a failure, blaming the earlier Rudd and Gillard governments. [142] [143] The Four Corners documentary noted significant issues with the roll out and complaints regarding performance of the NBN. [144] Following the Prime Minister's acknowledgment of the NBN's failure, Kevin Rudd noted that, on assuming government in 2013, Malcolm Turnbull, as Minister for Communications in the Abbott government radically changed the technical aspects of the NBN. [145]
NBN Co's chief executive Stephen Rue announced in August 2019 that the $51 billion project would be completed within budget by June 2020.
At the time of the announcement, the network was 85% complete. [146]
In February 2020, Rue announced that the network was 90% complete. He also reaffirmed his August 2019 announcement that the project would be completed within budget by June 2020. [147]
NBN Co planned to complete the FTTP rollout by June 2021, [148] along with the completion of the fixed wireless [149] and satellite rollout by 2015. [150] [151]
NBN Co initially planned to complete the MTM rollout by 2020.
Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 and Australia's largest telecommunications company by market share.
Telecommunications in Australia refers to communication in Australia through electronic means, using devices such as telephone, television, radio or computer, and services such as the telephony and broadband networks. Telecommunications have always been important in Australia given the "tyranny of distance" with a dispersed population. Governments have driven telecommunication development and have a key role in its regulation.
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Wentworth from 2004 to 2018.
Singtel Optus Pty Limited is an Australian telecommunications company headquartered in Macquarie Park, a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean telecommunications company Singtel.
iiNet Limited is an Australian internet service provider and telecommunications company that sells NBN plans, 4G and 5G Home Wireless Internet and services on its ULTRA Broadband Cable, FTTB and VDSL2 networks. It also sells mobile phone sim-only plans using the Vodafone network.
TPG is an Australian internet service provider that specialises in consumer and business internet services as well as mobile telephone services. As of August 2015, TPG is the second largest internet service provider in Australia and is the largest mobile virtual network operator. As such, it has over 671,000 ADSL2+ subscribers, 358,000 landline subscribers and 360,000 mobile subscribers, and owns the second largest ADSL2+ network in Australia, consisting of 391 ADSL2+ DSLAMs. It also operates in New Zealand.
Deloraine is a town on the Meander River, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. It is 50 km west of Launceston and 52 km south of Devonport along the Bass Highway. It is part of the Meander Valley Council. Deloraine recorded a population of 3,035 in the 2021 census. Deloraine, like most Tasmanian towns, has a temperate and wet climate.
Internode Pty Ltd is an Australian Internet service provider (ISP) that provides NBN broadband services, business-class broadband access, web hosting, co-location, Voice over IP, and a variety of related services. Internode became part of TPG Telecom in July 2020.
Zygmunt Edward "Ziggy" Switkowski,, is a Polish Australian business executive and nuclear physicist. His most public role was as the chief executive officer of Australia's largest telecommunications company Telstra from 1999 to 2004. During his tenure, he oversaw the privatisation of the then government-owned corporation through a series of public tranche sales. Later positions were chairman of both NBN Co and Suncorp, a director of Healthscope, Oil Search and Tabcorp and the Chancellor of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
TransACT is the trading name of TransACT Capital Communications, an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Canberra and a subset of these services in Queanbeyan, throughout South-east New South Wales and in Victoria.
Terria Access Seekers Association, formerly known as G9, was a consortium of Australian Internet service providers that in 2006 formed a consortium to bid for the right to build the proposed National Broadband Network.
Openreach Limited is a company wholly owned by BT Group plc, that maintain telephone cables, ducts, cabinets and exchanges that connect nearly all homes and businesses in the United Kingdom to various national broadband and telephone networks. They were established in 2006 following an agreement between BT and the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, to implement certain undertakings, pursuant to the Enterprise Act 2002, to ensure that rival telecom operators have equality of access to BT's local network.
Internet in Australia first became available on a permanent basis to universities in Australia in May 1989, via AARNet. Pegasus Networks was Australia's first public Internet provider in June 1989. The first commercial dial-up Internet Service Provider (ISP) appeared in capital cities soon after, and by the mid-1990s, almost the entire country had a range of choices of dial-up ISPs. Today, Internet access is available through a range of technologies, i.e. hybrid fibre coaxial cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and satellite Internet. In July 2009, the federal government, in partnership with the industrial sector, began rolling out a nationwide fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) and improved fixed wireless and satellite access through the National Broadband Network. Subsequently, the roll out was downgraded to a Multi-Technology Mix on the promise of it being less expensive and with earlier completion. In October 2020, the federal government announced an upgrade by 2023 of NBN fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) services to FTTP for 2 million households, at a cost of A$3.5 billion.
NBN Co Limited, known as simply nbn, is a state-owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. The corporation reports to two shareholder ministers: the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a government-owned corporation. Internet service providers, known under NBN as retail service providers or RSPs, contract with NBN to access the data network and sell fixed Internet access to end users.
AusBBS was an Australian Internet service provider (ISP) offering Internet and phone services. It was one of the first ISPs to launch with a specific focus on Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) which is being rolled out by the Federal Government via the fully owned NBN Co. Providers such as AusBBS have also been referred to as Retail Service Providers (RSPs) since the commencement of the NBN.
A Network Termination Device (NTD) is a customer-side network interface device used by the Australian National Broadband Network (NBN). Network termination devices provide multiple bridges for customers to access the NBN. There are different types of NTDs for the various connection technologies encompassed by NBN. All connection types except FTTN use NTDs on premises. Depending on the kind of link, NTDs typically provide two telephony and four data channels. An external power source is required, and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be used to maintain connection in power outages. FTTC requires power to be provided from the premises to the kerb.
Michael P. Quigley is an Australian telecommunication business executive. He was the first Chief Executive Officer of NBN Co.
In Australia the predominant term used for SOEs is government business enterprise (GBE). Various Australian states also have GBEs, especially with respect to the provision of water and sewerage, and many state-based GBEs were privatized in some states during the last decade of the twentieth century. Former Commonwealth SOEs include Telstra, established in the 1970s as Telecom Australia. Telstra, now Australia's largest telecommunications company, was privatised in 1997 by the Howard government. As of June 2010 Telstra owned a majority of the copper wire infrastructure in Australia and is pending sale to its former parent, the Australian government, for a non-binding amount of 11 billion Australian dollars, as ducts in the copper wire tunnels are needed to install the fibre optic cable. The Commonwealth Bank, as its name indicates, was also founded as public company before later being privatized.
Vodafone Australia is an Australian telecommunications brand providing mobile and fixed broadband services. Vodafone’s mobile network covers more than 23 million Australians, and Vodafone has commenced the rollout of its 5G mobile network. Vodafone NBN fixed broadband services are available in capital cities and selected regional centres. Vodafone is the third-largest wireless carrier in Australia, with 5.8 million subscribers as of 2020.
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