NEW Communications Minister, Senator Mitch Fifield has signalled that the Turnbull government is open to including more fibre-to-the-premise in the national broadband network as the $56 billion project rolls out.
In an interview with Fairfax Media, Senator Fifield said the current plans to have only 25 per cent of the population covered with FTTP technology were "not set in stone".
He also said that the NBN, tackling mobile black spots and the digital government agenda were among his top priorities in the role, which he inherited from the now Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Speculation has been increasing that under Mr Turnbull the government is shifting in its attitude towards the high-speed, more expensive technology, with many in the tech industry hoping that a larger percentage of the population will be connected by FttP, as opposed to the cheaper, but slower fibre-to-the-node option.
Asked about the speculation, Senator Fifield replied: "The NBN as an organisation is technology agnostic. It's whatever of the currently four main mechanisms for providing connections for people is the right one which is the way the organisation goes.
"But what that also means is that there could be a rebalancing between those four mechanisms, those current likely percentages are not set in stone.
"So I am not signalling anything in relation to that other than to say the organisation is technology agnostic and things can evolve".
Patchwork mix of technologies
The Coalition's patchwork network plan scaled down the former Labor's government ambitious roll out plans, which were designed to offer 93 per cent of the population FTTP broadband.
Under the current roll out plan only a quarter of the population will get FTTP broadband while 29 per cent will get fibre-to-the node (the street cabinet), 11 per cent fibre to the basement, 27 per cent hybrid fibre-coaxial cable, 5 per cent fixed wireless and the remaining 3 per cent, satellite coverage.
Controversial plans by fast-growing internet service provider TPG to install its own FTTP network have raised question marks about the viability of the NBN's plan to reach a profit.
Mr Fifield, who is a week into the new portfolio, declined to comment on TPG, saying it was not a matter he had yet looked at.
Asked about his top priorities as Communications Minister, he said: "The way I frame the gig is that I am to some extent responsible for some of the sinews of the economy: communications, how we interact with each other in business and individually is a big chunk of this portfolio so I see it very much as an economic portfolio," he said.
"Some of the top priorities are obviously the NBN, mobile blackspots and the digital government agenda, which I'm the minister assisting the Prime Minister on - that is just such an untapped opportunity on behalf of Australians because so much of the way government systems and processes have evolved have been on the basis of what suits government rather than on the basis of what suits the citizen."
Changes unlikely
Ovum analyst Dave Kennedy said the longer the Coalition's multi-technology-mix NBN plan continued, the harder it would become to change the proportions of the different technologies used, due to contracts being signed.
NBN recently awarded the latest round of contracts for the FTTN rollout.
"It is possible that there will be more FTTP in the future, but the recent trend is for it to reduce ... They need to actually deliver the rollout and cant just keep chopping and changing the proportions," Mr Kennedy said.
"Once the network is rolled out in several years, then there may be prospects for upgrading some parts of the network to FTTP, and that will probably be done on a commercial basis, depending on demand in certain areas."
Telsyte analyst Foad Fadaghi said it appeared Senator Fifield was simply demonstrating political savvy by giving broadband users hope that more will be done in the future.
"It's prudent for a new govt to raise optimism - they are suggesting many reforms across the economy are 'not being ruled out' - this is much the same," Mr Fadaghi said.
"It is also rational for the new minister to be open to the idea of increasing the FTTP footprint, given the growing demand for broadband that can handle concurrently applications in the home. The question is whether this renewed interest in FTTP will come to areas slated for FTTN or HFC, and if it's a direct response to some telcos deploying their own Fibre to the basement technology in built up areas."
