Syntheo snags $141m NBN construction win

NBN Co has assigned Lend Lease-Service Stream joint venture Syntheo construction contracts for 11 National Broadband Network sites in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The contracts cover 85,000 premises in the state and territory across four second release sites and an additional seven sites announced as part of NBN Co's one-year rollout schedule issued last month.

The company had previously been chosen to build three sites in Western Australia, at an initial value of $174 million for two years, and $484 million if extended to four.

With the new agreements, Syntheo has the potential to garner $315 million from network construction over two years or a total $825 million if extended to four.

The South Australian and Northern Territory contracts are the last to be assigned for construction in Australia. 

The total value of NBN construction contracts to date is $1.96 billion over four years.

Syntheo's latest contracts come five months after NBN Co awarded sites in New South Wales and Queensland to Silcar.

It was a far cry from April when NBN Co sensationally suspended all construction contracts for second release sites and accused the construction industry of attempting to fleece taxpayers over the NBN build.

NBN Co said the terms of the latest Syntheo agreement were "consistent" with other contracts but did not disclose those terms.

An NBN Co spokeswoman confirmed Syntheo had already been contracted on a preliminary basis for some of the second release sites in South Australia and the Northern Territory ahead of being awarded the final contracts, to avoid slowing down the rollout schedule.