NBN Co pulled in some money, spent a whole lot more, bickered with its contractors and got rejected by the ACCC while speculation mounted that we might finally see a glimmer of an actual Coalition NBN policy. Also, Alan Jones raved and ranted, but then that’s hardly news, is it?
The week didn’t get off to a good start for NBN Co, with leaked documents revealing that its problem with external contractors run deep and have done so for quite some time. The rollout appears to be in trouble everywhere, with NBN Co using Federal level powers to gain access to power poles in New South Wales despite the wishes of the NSW state government. For those who reckon it’ll never make money, a slight glimmer of hope with $5.2 million in revenue reported in the last half-year, although that’s got to be weighed against more than $400 million in operating costs. Meanwhile, the NBN’s special access undertaking — in essence, its operational pricing plan for the next three years — got rejected by the ACCC.
It’s ripe pickings in an election year for the Coalition, with some tipping the long-awaited detail on the opposition broadband plan to emerge as early as next week, although in the meantime Malcolm Turnbull’s been busy propping up the increasingly insane commentary offered by Alan Jones for whatever reason — Turnbull certainly knows better, even if Jones doesn’t.