NBN Co marks 10,000 active fibre connections

Next set of targets

NBN Co indicated in its latest figures that it expects to meet its target of 92,000 active fibre, wireless and satellite connections for the financial year ended June 2013. (pdf)

The company has also previously hit its activated premises targets for financial years 2011 and 2012.

Reaching the FY2013 active connection target will mean a sharp change in the mix of active services, starting now.

The big change is that the majority of active connections taken between now and June 30, 2013, are expected to be on the fibre network.

NBN Co is targeting 44,000 active fibre connections in built-up areas of Australia, and 10,000 in new housing estates, for a total of 54,000 active connections.

Achieving that would mean 59 percent of all active connections to the NBN would be via fibre. This figure has previously hovered at around 30 percent.

This means growth in active satellite connections — which has propped up the total active connections figure in past reporting periods — will plateau.

In fact, NBN Co is targeting 37,700 active satellite and fixed wireless connections by the end of June this year. Even excluding fixed wireless, which is ramping up, satellite as a percentage of all active connections will fall substantially.

Pressure tactic

NBN Co's release of active connection data late on public holiday Monday came after a weekend of renewed pressure for the figures to be released.

The Australian reported Saturday that ISPs were being offered a $108 incentive to shift existing customers onto the NBN.

NBN Co called it a "standard promotional activity". Opposition communications minister Malcolm Turnbull attacked it as an attempt to boost subscriber numbers ahead of this years' federal election.

Earlier this month, the company released network construction figures where works were either "commenced or completed", but gave no indication at the time when it would detail active connections.

NBN Co had attempted to sate demand for the active connections figure with a ramp-up of news about the switch-on of fibre service access modules.