In an announcement in Canberra this morning, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Treasurer Wayne Swan, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and Senator Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said the Federal Government will form a state-owned enterprise to build a FTTH network in combination with private suppliers.
A new public/private enterprise will build a 100mbps fibre to the home (FTTH) network that reaches 90 percent of the population.
The remaining 10 percent of the population will continue to be served by wireless and satellite technologies at speeds of up to 12 Mbps.
The Government claims the new network will be "Australia's first national wholesale-only, open access broadband network."
The Government claimed that its independent panel of experts found that none of the NBN bidders - which included Optus, Acacia and Axia, had offered sufficient bids.
The new public/private enterprise will be 51 percent Government-owned and initially funded by the $4.7 billion Building Australia Fund, the remainder funded by the release of Aussie Infrastructure Bonds (shares).
The Government intends to sell down its stake in the network within five years of its completion.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the plan represented the "single largest infrastructure decision in Australia's history" - up there with post-war nation building of the Snowy Mountains scheme.
He expects the building of the NBN to create 25,000 jobs a year, with 37,000 jobs at its peak, and contribute an extra 0.25 percent to Australia's GDP.
The network will begin rolling out in Tasmania as early as July 2009, with the mainland network build starting in 2010.
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