NBN Co explained

NBN Co Limited
Type:State-owned enterprise
Location City:Melbourne,[1] Australia
Key People:
  • Philip Knox, interim CEO
  • Kate McKenzie, chair and non-executive director
Industry:Telecommunications
Services:Wholesale data network
Revenue:5.5 billion[2]
Revenue Year:2024
Operating Income:141 million
Income Year:2024
Net Income:-1.2 billion
Net Income Year:2024
Assets:38.77 billion
Assets Year:2024
Equity:$-3.76 billion
Equity Year:2024
Num Employees:4,354
Num Employees Year:2024
Owner:Australian Government
Members:8.61 million
Members Year:2024

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.[3]

History

NBN Co was established on under the name of its company number, "ACN 136 533 741 Limited". After the establishment, the Australian Government started referring to the company as "National Broadband Network Company", which became the de facto company name. It was officially named "NBN Co Limited" on . It traded as "NBN Co" until 26 April 2015 when it began trading simply as "nbn".

In 2019, NBN Co announced that by May 2020[4] retail service providers will be able to pool all their connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) bandwidth nationally.

In February 2020, the company announced that 6.7 million homes and businesses were connected to a plan over the nbn access network – compared with 4.9 million in February 2019.[5]

NBN Co developed a satellite internet program named Sky Muster aimed at rural areas. As of July 2023, over $620 million had been invested.[6] However, the program experienced fierce competition from Starlink satellites. Sky Muster consists of two geosynchronous satellites orbiting over 35,000 km above Earth's surface, resulting in latency times around 600 milliseconds (at 25 Mbps), compared to Starlink's latency of below 40 milliseconds (for 100-200 Mbps).[7]

In February 2017, CEO Bill Morrow stated that there is no significant demand for wired connections above 25 Mbit/s and consideration of upgrading the network will not be undertaken until demand for high-bandwidth services is proven.[8]

In August 2019, CEO Stephen Rue, announced the completion of the $51 billion National Broadband Network by June 2020.[9] However, some service areas were still being rolled out in 2020 and 2021 with FTTP to properties with FTTN or FTTC.

On 6th May 2024, CEO Stephen Rue announced his departure from the company to take the CEO position at Optus.[10]

NBN and retail service providers

The NBN network, at 2022, draws together wired communication (copper, optical and hybrid fibre-coaxial) and radio communication (satellite and fixed wireless networks) at 121 points of interconnect typically located in Telstra owned telephone exchanges throughout Australia. NBN Co also sells access for mobile telecommunication backhaul to mobile telecommunications providers.[11]

At 30 June 2016, Telstra had 45.5%, TPG group had 24.8% and Optus had 12.4% of all end users connecting to the NBN.[12]

There has been a significant failure of the nbn to deliver nominal performance to end users. There has been contention between RSPs and NBN on the reasons for this. Bill Morrow, then CEO of NBN Co, admitted in 2017 that 15% of end users received a poor service through the NBN and were 'seriously dissatisfied'.[13] In addition, Morrow indicated that, at July 2017, prices and performance for end users were suppressed through a 'price war' between RSPs.[14] [15]

Contractual arrangements

NBN Co contracts mainly with RSPs to provide wholesale broadband access, with limited supply of backhaul to other organisations (for example providing backhaul services to Vodafone).[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NBN Co Limited . Australian Government Directory. Australian Government. 15 May 2023. 17.
  2. 2024 Annual Report . 9 October 2024 . NBN Co Limited . 6 August 2024 . 6, 7, 85, 152, 153, 154, 228. 9 October 2024 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009071907/https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbn/documents/about-nbn/reports/financial-reports/nbn-co-annual-report-2024.pdf.coredownload.pdf.
  3. Annual Report 2009–2010 . NBN Co . 22 March 2012 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009085047/https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2018/documents/corporate-reports/nbnco-annual-report-09-10.pdf.coredownload.pdf . 9 October 2024 .
  4. Web site: NBN Co to allow internet providers to pool CVC nationally. 9 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009113130/https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-to-allow-internet-providers-to-pool-cvc-nationally-534587. live. Ry. Crozier. iTnews. 2020-04-16.
  5. Monthly Progress Report February 2020 . live. https://web.archive.org/web/20241009113448/https://www.nbnco.com.au/content/dam/nbnco2/2020/documents/how-we-are-tracking/nbn-february-2020-monthly-progress-report.pdf.coredownload.pdf. 9 October 2024. nbnco.com.au.
  6. Web site: 2023-07-06 . NBN aims to match Elon Musk's Starlink but may have to write off $620m . 5 July 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230705190237/https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/nbn-aims-to-match-elon-musk-s-starlink-but-may-have-to-write-off-620m-20230704-p5dlon . subscription . Nick . Bonyhady . Baird . Lucas . live . 2023-07-10 . . en.
  7. Web site: Biggs . Tim . 2023-07-07 . Telstra's Starlink deal could signal a new era of connectivity in hard-to-reach places . 9 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009114042/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/telstra-s-starlink-deal-could-signal-a-new-era-of-connectivity-in-hard-to-reach-places-20230705-p5dlve.html . live . 2023-07-10 . . en.
  8. News: Gigabit per second speeds aren't needed yet, NBN Co boss Bill Morrow says . registration . Lucy . Battersby . 1 March 2017 . 28 February 2017 . . 1 March 2017 . 9 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009114249/https://www.theage.com.au/business/gigabit-per-second-speeds-arent-needed-yet-nbn-co-boss-bill-morrow-says-20170228-gunlkt.html . live.
  9. Web site: Ryan . Peter . 2019-08-15 . NBN will be complete by mid-2020 within revised budget, says CEO Stephen Rue . 2020-04-16 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009114657/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-15/nbn-co-chief-says-better-times-ahead/11415256 . 9 October 2024 . live . en-AU.
  10. News: . 9 October 2024 . 9 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009115207/https://thenightly.com.au/australia/nbn-chief-executive-resigns-stephen-rue-to-depart-as-he-is-named-new-ceo-of-optus-c-14560855 . NBN chief executive resigns: Stephen Rue to depart as he is named new CEO of Optus. 6 May 2024 . Max . Corstorphan .
  11. Web site: Vodafone first telco to use NBN for mobile coverage boost . Rohan . Pearce . 3 February 2017 . . 9 March 2017 . 19 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210619114248/https://www.computerworld.com/article/3470396/vodafone-first-telco-to-use-nbn-for-mobile-coverage-boost.html . dead.
  12. News: Three ISPs take 83 percent of NBN market . 9 October 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009120011/https://www.itnews.com.au/news/three-isps-take-83-percent-of-nbn-market-437927 . live . Ry . Crozier . 22 September 2016 . itnews . 4 August 2017.
  13. News: NBN to review pricing as part of image problem fix . Michael . Smith . Tony . Boyd . 24 July 2017 . The Australian Financial Review . 25 July 2017 . subscription . 26 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220426141209/https://www.afr.com/companies/telecommunications/nbn-to-review-pricing-as-part-of-image-problem-fix-20170724-gxhk0q . live.
  14. News: 9 October 2024 . https://archive.today/20241009120830/https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/nbn-embarks-on-charm-offensive-to-address-confusion-and-complaints/news-story/07b17fc3b8563ccf706fafa2e2f7db87 . live . NBN embarks on charm offensive to address confusion and complaints . Nick . Whigham . 28 July 2017 . . 29 July 2017.
  15. Web site: NBN Co boss declares war with internet providers: Blames ISPs for performance problems . https://web.archive.org/web/20241009120756/https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-boss-declares-war-with-internet-providers-469724 . 9 October 2024 . live . Ry . Crozier . 31 July 2017 . ITNews . 31 July 2017.

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