nbn™ rollout footprint continues to grow
27 May 2015
Increase in users, revenue and serviceable homes
Unaudited primary financial statements for period ended 31 March 2015
Highlights:
- Circa 899,000 Life to Date serviceable premises – almost double from 12 months ago
- Circa 389,000 Life to Date premises activated – more than 20% increase since December
- $106 million telecommunications revenue – almost 3 times the corresponding 9 months last year
Operational progress:
- Weekly run rate of circa 12,300 serviceable premises – 73% increase from 12 months ago (12-week rolling average to 31 March 2015)
- FTTN construction program expands to cover an additional 200,000 premises (approximately 400,000 cumulative)
- First MTM technology in market with FTTB made available to retail service providers
NB. Period reports nine months to 31 March 2015 unless otherwise stated
The market for nbn™ services continues to grow with sizeable increases in serviceable premises, end users and revenue in the period.
The cumulative number of homes and businesses that can order an nbn™ service (“serviceable premises”) is now c.899,000 – a near doubling since 31 March 2014.
Approximately 12,300 premises are being made serviceable every week – an increase of 73% on the 12-week rolling average for the comparative period.
This has led to an uplift in both nbn™ users and revenue. The number of premises with an active nbn™ service grew by 133% since 31 March 2014 to c.389,000. Cumulative telecommunications revenue for the period exceeded $100 million – an increase of 179% on the comparative period.
Consistent with a company in build phase, and one that is laying the foundations for an escalation in rollout activity using a more flexible mix of technologies, nbn™ incurred $2.2 billion in capital expenditure in the period; an EBITDA loss of $785 million; and operating expenses of $893 million.
nbn CEO Bill Morrow said:
“The company has made solid operational and financial progress over the period. That is a direct result of our investment in our people, improvements in the way we roll out the network and in the way we work with our partners.
“It puts us on the path to achieving our full-year targets of around one million serviceable premises, around 480,000 activations and around $150 million in annual revenue. The recent repositioning of the nbn™ brand from that of a utility function to a visionary company that will deliver positive benefits for every Australian will also help materially drive activations and bring forward revenues.
“The next stage of the company’s development requires a step change in performance. Work underway puts us in a solid position to make that transition so we can meet our goal of a truly national broadband network that will drive a competitive and productive Australia.”
Multi-technology approach:
During the quarter, the company launched its Fibre to the Building product and has begun activating FTTB services.
nbn™ is also doubling the size of preliminary Fibre to the Node construction to encompass approximately 400,000 premises, including for the first time communities in NT, SA and WA, as well as additional premises in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
The company continues to anticipate that ACCC approval of its agreements with Telstra and Optus for use of certain copper and HFC assets will be finalised as soon as possible.
Media enquiries:
Karina Keisler
M: 0419 523 023
E: karinakeisler@nbnco.com.au
Andrew Sholl
M: 0448 805 806
E: andrewsholl@nbnco.com.au
Media Hotline
P: 02 9927 4200
E: media@nbnco.com.au
Notes to editors
nbn’s objective is to ensure that by 2020:
- all homes, businesses and communities across Australia can access high speed broadband;
- 8 million premises are connected to the National Broadband Network;
- the company generates more than $4 billion of annual revenue;
- less than the capped $29.5bn of government equity funding is used.
