National Broadband Network Appoints Five Key Executives

NBN Co. Limited, the company established to deliver the National Broadband Network, today announced the appointment of five members to its executive team.

"These appointments are a critical first step in delivering on this important nation- building infrastructure project," said NBN Executive Chairman Mike Quigley.

The new executives are:

• Christy Boyce (Head of Industry Engagement)
• Greg Willis (Head of Program Delivery)
• Jean-Pascal Beaufret (Chief Financial Officer)
• Kevin Brown (Chief Human Resources Officer & Head of Corporate Services)
• Tim Smeallie (Head of Commercial Strategy)

"Each executive brings the best in industry expertise to critical areas of the National Broadband Network and ensures at this very early stage that we have the right mix of capabilities to lead this project through the planning stages," Mr. Quigley said.

"The team we are building has been selected from an impressive pool of potential talent and I am confident the NBN project is starting out with the right skills and experience in this critical early stage to help us achieve long term success," he added.

"I look forward to working with this high-calibre team as we begin planning the infrastructure needed to provide Australian homes and businesses with access to the digital economy of the future," Mr. Quigley said.

NBN will continue to announce key appointments to its executive committee over the coming months.

"Everyone who is joining NBN during its formative stage is well aware of the tasks ahead and the commitment needed to guide what will be a very large and complex infrastructure project," Mr. Quigley added.

Brief executive backgrounds:

Christy Boyce was previously a principal at McKinsey & Co where she was a co-leader of its telecoms practice. Ms. Boyce has managed many large, complexstrategy issues for a range of corporations.

Greg Willis was most recently General Manager Program Delivery at Coles where he oversaw a major cost reduction program. From 1999 to 2004 Mr. W illis held a number of senior executive positions at Telstra, including Chief of Retail and Distribution and Executive Director, Broadband & Online Services. He has also held CEO and senior operational roles at other organisations, where his responsibilities
included managing the rollout of major infrastructure, including Pay TV. He will be responsible for managing the program delivery of the National Broadband Network.

Jean-Pascal Beaufret was a director and Chief Financial Officer at Alcatel-Lucent between 1999 and 2007. He is a former senior official in France's Ministry of Finance, serving as deputy secretary of the Treasury and head of the Tax Administration. Mr Beaufret is a graduate of HEC (Paris Business School) and of the ENA (French National School of Public Administration). Mr Beaufret will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of capital expenditure and financing.

Kevin Brown was Executive General Manager, People, Qantas and a member of its executive committee before stepping down in early 2009. Before joining Qantas in 2001, Mr. Brown was the head of Asia-Pacific business development at global telecoms company Nortel Networks and had been Global Head of Human
Resources for its Enterprise Networks division based in San Francisco.

Tim Smeallie left Citigroup in November 2008 and founded Numerico Advisory which specialised in strategic planning and investment analysis to the telecoms and media sectors. He was Managing Director of Telecoms and Media Research with Citi Investment Research Australia and was rated the nation's leading telecoms analyst for four years. As Head of Commercial Strategy, Mr. Smeallie has responsibility for the formulation and direction of NBN Co strategy and planning, including identifying critical issues, acquisition opportunities and business case validation.

Further information:

David Lording
02 9241 6044
0419 683 411

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