Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communication, Senator Fifield. Can the minister update the Senate on the rollout of the National Broadband Network?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Smith. As a matter of fact, I can provide an update. NBN's annual results show the company continues to make solid progress in delivering a broadband network that will bring enormous benefits to the nation. One point six million premises were activated in 2017-18, making it a record year for customers connected. These additional subscribers contributed to the achievement of nearly $2 billion in annual revenue for the company. These results are light years ahead of those achieved by our predecessors. Take, for example, the total revenue achieved in the 2013 financial year, four years into the rollout. It wasn't $1.7 billion. It wasn't even $170 million. NBN's revenue for the 2013 financial year was $17 million.

NBN's full-year results do demonstrate that the company is continuing to deliver against its construction of financial targets, despite a slowdown in activations and ready-for-service numbers in the second half. The hard decisions taken by NBN to offer better value plans for higher speed tiers and to pause HFC sales over the past eight months have been rewarded with significant improvements in customer experience. Network congestion has fallen from more than five hours a week on average in June last year to just 25 minutes per week in June this year.

Can I take the opportunity to congratulate Bill Morrow and his successor announced today, Mr Stephen Rue, for another year of strong performance. The government welcomes the appointment of Mr Rue to the role of chief executive officer of NBN Co, and we pay tribute to Mr Morrow for his exemplary leadership at the company's helm over the past four years.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister share with the Senate how the coalition's Multi Technology Mix has contributed to this success?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I can. As I mentioned before, 1.6 million households switched over to faster NBN broadband in the last year alone. To date, over 4.2 million services have been activated across the NBN's six access technologies. More than 2.2 million of these services are connected via fibre to the node or basement. The latest access technology to be deployed, fibre to the curb, is also now scaling up with close to 180,000 premises now able to switch on this service. The rollout remains on track for 2020. In a matter of months, Tasmania will become the first Australian state to see the rollout fully complete, something of which Senator Bushby often reminds me.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Smith, a final supplementary question.

Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister share how these achievements compare with the record of the previous Labor government?

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I shouldn't ignore Senator Smith's state of Western Australia. More than 90 per cent of the state is either complete or has NBN construction underway. In just a few weeks, the total number of premises ready for service in WA will tip over the one million mark, and what is even more stark is the number of connected services achieved in WA since 2013. When we inherited the NBN project, contractors had downed tools in WA. There were just 109 existing homes who had been connected to the NBN after four years. That number now stands at 434,730. When we add in the non-fixed-line areas, there are now are more than half a million Western Australian premises that are benefiting from the NBN right across the state. It's good news that we're delivering the NBN quickly and affordably to all Australians.