NBN tenders are not secret: Conroy

By Ben Grubb on Dec 29, 2009 8:37 AM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Conroy denies 'secret' NBN tenders.

Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy has denied that private tenders issued to build Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) were secured behind closed doors.

Various tenders issued to build the NBN have not been publicly listed due to the fact that NBN Co, the company put in charge with building the NBN, is a private company and not a part of government.

If NBN Co was a government department it would be required to list all of its tenders on government tender web site AusTender.

Tenders have also been issued via third parties such as Aurora, the electricity supplier in Tasmania.

In an interview with iTnews, the Minister denied that deals had been secured behind closed doors.

“I don’t think these tenders are secret,” Conroy said.

“Australia Post don't publish their tenders."

For those wanting a chunk of the $43 billion dollar NBN, Conroy said NBN Co had an office that any company could approach.

“NBN Co has got an office and everyone knows Mike Quigley is the CEO," he said.

“All of these are publicly contactable organisations.

“But these are not government contracts."

He said he was sure that there were companies that were "disappointed" they hadn't won contracts, but said that there would be "many more" to be won.

6 comments in this discussion

"What a real worry - Minister for Finance and for Comms the two shareholders, public seed money bankrolling the NBN, supporting legislation laying out the riches of the country not to mention once ..."

By Rossyduck

Tags

nbn, senator stephen conroy, nbn co, tender, austender, australia post, aurora, mike quigley, minister, secret

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Comments: 6

michaelsaunders Dec 30, 2009 11:13 AM	So does that mean a private company owns the network again? Isn't this exactly what was the problem with Telstra? If they are a private company and can make there own decisions how does the government guarantee they don't go retail once the tax payers pay to build the network.
BC Dec 30, 2009 12:13 PM	Therein lies the problem. The taxpayer is not paying to build the NBN as the government wants most of the money to come from private investors. So we have the age old problem that no company will pay for something without having the related equity (i.e. ownership) of it. The government didn't want to own a telephone company and its network, so the sold Telstra. The problem is that they didn't want own it but still wanted to control it. In the real world, you can't have it both ways. They are going down the same path with the NBN. They want to control it but they don't want to pay for it. The 'retail' issue is a furphy. The issue is monopoly control of the asset. The other problem is that of the NBN being run for a political agenda, not on sound commercial, technical, and social principles. Telstra's retail business actually offsets losses in the network arm that its wholesale arm cannot cover. If NBN Co does not operate in the retail arena (and I don't believe it ever will), then all commercial costs of building and operating the NBN will have to covered by the wholesale pricing alone. This is where the predictions of big retail costs are coming from.
Digger11 Dec 30, 2009 1:33 PM	@michael Whilst we will probably get a company (NBN) that will dominate network ownership, we will only have a problem (like we do with Telstrs) if NBN plays in the retial field. Mike Quigley has 100% denied that NBN will be anything more than a wholesaler - so we will not run it to the separation issues we have wiht our good buddies at Telstra.
iporter Dec 31, 2009 6:54 PM	OK if the NBN Co is a private company, who are the sharehodlers and who is funding it? We were told that 'The Government would build the NBN', that being so they appear to be up to some paper-shuffling trick. If they want to control the NBN, surely they have to 'control' the NBN Co. I just don't understand WTF they are doing here.
sydneyla Jan 12, 2010 8:40 AM	In Las Vegas earlier this week Senator Conroy said that five years after build the NBN would be sold to investors. What a grubby con trick this is. Let the Australian taxpayer pay for the NBN build and then sell it back to us. What does the ACCC, that champion of free enterprise and competition, think of all this Telstra blackmail to deliver a NBN monopoly that will be sold to owners that will in fact be the Telstra story all over again?
Rossyduck Jan 13, 2010 7:56 AM	What a real worry - Minister for Finance and for Comms the two shareholders, public seed money bankrolling the NBN, supporting legislation laying out the riches of the country not to mention once off opportunities to use rights of way, states all being told to put legislation in place to help and no public control or transparency over what they do, and no competition to ensure a modicon of efficiency. On the basis of what NBNT have been up to so far, a receipe for self enrichment and money for pals.