[AusNOG] NBN’s $800 million Optus network might need to be rebuilt

Thu Nov 26 07:40:43 EST 2015

Did they buy the network or did they buy the competition?

If it's the latter then the state of the network is entirely irrelevant.

On 26/11/15 06:14, Robert Hudson wrote:
>
> Those were my thoughts exactly Skeeve. The Optus HFC network has been 
> in a disgraceful state for years, and anyone who's had any involvement 
> with it knew that.
>
> Great to see that NBN did the appropriate levels of due dilligence 
> before handing over so much money...
>
> On 26 Nov 2015 12:38 am, "Skeeve Stevens" <skeeve+ausnog at theispguy.com 
> <mailto:skeeve%2Bausnog at theispguy.com>> wrote:
>
>     They could have just asked us... we would have told them how bad
>     it was.
>
>     ...Skeeve
>
>     From:
>     http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/nbns-800-million-optus-network-might-need-to-be-rebuilt/news-story/058b1a409439b2d0b797bda37aec4ed7
>
>     ===
>     MALCOLM Turnbull and the NBN have spent $800 million on a network
>     that almost completely needs to be rebuilt.
>
>     As part of the Coalition government’s multi-technology National
>     Broadband Network, the government bought Optus’s ageing hybrid
>     fibre-coaxial (HFC) cable network, which was originally rolled out
>     in the 1990s for pay TV, for $800 million.
>
>     But leaked documents obtained by Fairfax Mediareveal the
>     government is planning to replace that $800 million network at a
>     cost of an extra $375 million.
>
>     The documents claim that the Optus HFC network is “not fit for
>     purpose” and nearing the end of its life, while other parts of it
>     are simply already oversubscribed and wouldn’t be able to deliver
>     on the speeds promised by Mr Turnbull and his government.
>
>     These new plans would see the Optus network rebuilt with either
>     Telstra’s HFC or fibre-to-the-node technology, which was
>     originally planned for 38 per cent of the network. On top of the
>     huge cost blowout, which is already expected to be $15 billion
>     over budget, the NBN will be missing the rollout targets of
>     633,000 premises in 2017 and 2018, which will now have to wait
>     until 2019 at the earliest to be connected.
>
>     An initial agreement was made between the NBN and Optus in 2012,
>     where it was approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer
>     Commission under the grounds that the government could gradually
>     decommission Optus’s HFC and replace it with fibre-to-the-premises
>     broadband connections.
>
>     The existing network needed upgrades and it was deemed
>     commercially unviable for Optus to do that work and maintain it.
>
>     Despite this, the deal was revised in 2015 the government would
>     keep Optus’s HFC network in use and make upgrades where needed for
>     the same $800 million price tag.
>
>     Opposition communications spokesman Jason Clare slammed the
>     findings of the document, saying it showed “more evidence of the
>     absolute mess that Malcolm Turnbull has created with his
>     second-rate NBN”.
>
>     “It reveals that the Optus HFC network, a key component of Malcolm
>     Turnbull’s second-rate NBN, is in far worse condition than
>     Australians were led to believe and NBN Co is considering
>     overbuilding the network — costing hundreds of millions and
>     meaning hundreds of thousands of Australians will have to wait
>     longer to get the NBN,” Mr Clare said.
>
>     Optus said that it always acknowledged the HFC network needed
>     major investment to manage subscriber growth and capacity demand.
>
>     A statement from NBN Co said the corporate plan had accounted for
>     the ebbs and flows of the project.
>
>     “NBN has met or exceeded all targets over the past 18 months and
>     we remain confident in our long range plan and the various
>     strategies we have in place to manage the risk,” the statement said.
>
>     “Nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses can now order an NBN
>     service and nearly 700,000 are connected.
>
>     “In order to manage risk NBN regularly prepares for multiple
>     scenarios in the network deployment — the document concerned is
>     part of that ongoing approach of risk mitigation.”
>
>     “Our corporate plan has accounted for the ebbs and flows expected
>     in a project of this scale.
>
>     “NBN has met or exceeded all targets over the past 18 months and
>     we remain confident in our long range plan and the various
>     strategies we have in place to manage the risk.
>
>     “Nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses can now order an nbn
>     service and nearly 700,000 are connected. In order to manage risk,
>     NBN regularly prepares for multiple scenarios in the network
>     deployment - the document concerned is part of that ongoing
>     approach of risk mitigation.”
>
>
>     ===
>
>
>     ...Skeeve
>
>
>     --
>
>     Skeeve Stevens - The ISP Guy - Internet Provider SME
>
>     Email: skeeve at theispguy.com <mailto:skeeve at theispguy.com> ; Cell:
>     +61(0)414 753 383
>
>     Skype: skeeve; Blog: TheISPGuy.com <http://theispguy.com/> ;
>     Facebook: TheISPGuy <https://www.facebook.com/theispguy>
>
>     Linkedin: /in/skeeve <http://www.linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ;
>     Expert360: Profile <https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9>
>
>
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