NBN chief talks up Tassie take-up

By John Hilvert on Jun 17, 2011 7:15 AM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Ready to bill services from August.

NBN Co chief Mike Quigley has revealed data on Tasmanian take-up rates in the state's three stage-one sites, with 600 premises holding an active connection to the network and over 740 services ordered by the end of May.

Almost 40 percent of the services were between 20 Mbps and 100 Mbps, he told a Senate Estimates hearing last night.

NBN Co was scheduled to start billing the customers for services from August 1.

“As a trial, we believe these are very positive outcomes,” Quigley said.

Construction off Senate radar

While Quigley confronted sustained questioning from Opposition senators on his time with Alcatel-Lucent and its bribery scandals, no questions were raised concerning NBNCo’s surprise cancellation of its second-stage tender roll-out back in April this year and the surprise departure of its head of construction, Patrick Flannigan.

Following eight weeks of negotiations, NBN Co sealed a new deal with a single construction company Silcar.

“I am pleased to say the design and construction pricing is now in line with NBN Co’s original assumptions, underlying the corporate plan," Quigley said.

“There is a keen willingness of many construction companies to opt in to a competitive process for the award of this work.

"Finalisation of this [negotiation] work over the coming months will enable NBN Co to speed up the roll-out.”

Pic of Mike Quigley at lecturn

8 comments in this discussion

"I think the real point is the oppositions lack of interest in anything being discussed above. It appears they have no interest in how good, or how bad the NBN rollout/uptake maybe, or how the ..."

By Ace

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Comments: 8

MerariSchroeder Jun 17, 2011 8:42 AM	"with 600 premises holding an active connection to the network" What happened to the expected demand? They're practically giving it away and only 600 connections? Sound the alarm! "and over 740 services ordered by the end of May." It's June, what happened to those orders? Or is it better to quote what could've happened? "As a trial, we believe these are very positive outcomes,” Quigley said. Quigley may be angling to become a politician.
Rizz Jun 18, 2011 3:42 PM	Couldn't have anything to do with people currently being contracted elsewhere, I suppose...? No... sound the alarm.. the sky is falling!
umbria Jun 18, 2011 6:02 PM	MS, you are well aware that was a technical pilot in Tasmania, where the real rollout will begin in Hobart. As RS also says, freckle-faced Telstra door-to-door sales reps consumed about sixteen tonnes of shoe leather in those three Tassie towns in a two-week blitz selling loss-making 24-month ADSL contracts with punitive exit fees just before the NBN letters arrived. A quarter of households have signed up despite this. An actual Tassie pilot takeup figure will be available twelve months from now when those contracts end.
advocate Jun 20, 2011 11:51 AM	umbria wrote: . As RS also says, freckle-faced Telstra door-to-door sales reps consumed about sixteen tonnes of shoe leather in those three Tassie towns in a two-week blitz selling loss-making 24-month ADSL contracts with punitive exit fees just before the NBN letters arrived. Can you provide a factual link that this actually happened? - of course not you just made it up as per usual umbria An actual Tassie pilot takeup figure will be available twelve months from now when those contracts end How many contracts is that then, and where did you get this information from?
Rizz Jun 20, 2011 4:57 PM	@ advocate, In other correspondence previously with you, we mentioned NBN uptake rates in Tassie and particularly your favourite Brunswick (yes, I know that’s not in Tassie, Mr pedantic, hands of keyboard…keep reading)… I suggested that existing contracts needed to be factored, because they would surely impact…! No I didn’t know for sure, it was an opinion, but one based on what’s known as… “common sense and reasoning”…! But even being obvious common sense… instead of rationally just saying “maybe”, you of course said, “show us your evidence” and continued with the same old, tired spiel. Yes as usual, rather than simply putting 2 + 2 together and getting 4, your instead wanted to argue over nothing (what a surprise)… You are aware that what makes a good debater is one who can acknowledge an opponents good points, whilst still shooting down their over all argument. To blindly argue at all turns, especially against common sense points, is counter-productive and simply shows one cannot be taken seriously, due to ridiculous bias and foolishness! Anyway… look here from Tassie State Education Minister McKim -in relation to why some Tassie schools, aren't connected to the NBN and then try to use a little nous and look past your nose for other similar instances... “The cause appears to the fact that the state’s education department has an overarching contract for telecommunications services – which predates the NBN”. Now of course that would be good enough for rational people in a rational debate! But once again rather than just accepting common sense, I’m sure you will look past the basis of Mr McKim's comment and hone in on the semantics and pedantics…of “one solitary word – appears”…sigh! Regardless of all of this, imo, this is the evidence, which the lack thereof previously, allowed you to ignore and even had you argue against common sense, but which now “vindicates my previous assumptions”. The 16 tonnes of shoe leather was obviously a facetious quip from umbria which you then used to escape yet another debate walloping. Or it went over your head... Or of course you simply played dumb (you are just playing dumb, aren't you)...?
advocate Jun 21, 2011 9:53 AM	@Rizz So that's a no then, you don't have any facts to support umbria's rubbish either, good glad we got that out of the way.
Rizz Jun 21, 2011 10:34 AM	@ advocate. With a typically pointless reply like that… sadly, it is apparent that you “aren’t playing dumb”, pitiful! Anyway... So that’s a YES then… you agree with Mr McKim (and I)that existing contracts are indeed affecting NBN take-up rates… good.
Ace Jun 21, 2011 11:13 AM	I think the real point is the oppositions lack of interest in anything being discussed above. It appears they have no interest in how good, or how bad the NBN rollout/uptake maybe, or how the community at large may or may not embrace the NBN. They just want to get someone sacked. Apparently this is worth far more political points.