The company rolling out Australia's NBN has achieved its revised end-of-year target for the rollout of the fiber component of the network.
Figures released by NBN Co recently show that as at 30 June the total number of premises passed with fiber was 207,500, which was in the range of its revised target of 190,000-220,000 premises.
There was more than fourfold increase in the total number of end users over the past 12 months and a sevenfold increase in fiber users. The total number of families and businesses with NBN services is now 70,100.
The fiber rollout is the largest component of the NBN build, with the plan being to deliver it to 93% of Australian premises by 2021.
“These results are pleasing because they demonstrate that the steps we put in place in March to accelerate the rollout have been successful," said NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley. “They provide us with confidence that NBN Co is on track to deliver fast, reliable and affordable broadband to every family and business in Australia over the remaining eight years of this decade-long build.”
NBN Co uses the accepted industry definition of “Premises Passed”, that is homes and businesses passed by an active telecommunications network. This standard measure includes those complex premises that will receive services over the NBN outside of standard order lead times.
“Premises such as blocks of apartments and large office blocks have always provided challenges to companies rolling out telecommunications networks. The key difference between the NBN and other networks – such as hybrid fibre coaxial (or cable TV) – is that we will provide NBN services to every home and business that orders a service,” Quigley said.