Nextgen Group in government good books

Government relationships continue to pay off for network provider Nextgen, with the Victorian government tapping Nextgen's fibre network in Victoria.

The partnership will involve a "sharing of state assets", allowing Nextgen to provide fibre for voice and data to South Western Victoria. The move will open up opportunities for service providers in a region previously dominated by Telstra.

"Historically it's been competitively difficult to do that because there's only been one provider," said Nextgen's group director government practice, Charlie Sutherland. He described the project as a "unique commercial arrangement" with the government.

Already, Nextgen is investigating the possibility of pursuing similar arrangements outside Victoria. "We are talking to other states about replicating the model," said Sutherland.

Sutherland sees the win as another example of growing opportunities as governments look to the private sector for cloud and network projects.

It's a trend Nextgen has capitalised on, building a name for itself in government circles. In 2012 the company's Metronode subsidiary clinched a significant $182 million contract on the back of a NSW government decision to outsource data centre services.

In 2009 Nextgen won another major project targeting "blackspot" areas. The $250 million NBN backhaul project saw the provider connect more than 100 towns.

"I think there is a trend - a global trend and in Australia - of governments getting out of things that are not their core business that the private sector can do better," Sutherland said. He also pointed to Victoria's move to outsource services away from CenITex.

While government wins can be a long-time coming, Sutherland said the wins have often been significant. "I would say some of these projects are significant transformational projects. They're not just transactional type activities."

"We see ourselves as a specialist in the public sector. We're very keen on growing our government business."