• Design and preliminary works underway in Darwin and Adelaide suburbs of Modbury & Prospect
• Design and construction work for 85,000 premises over next 12 months

NBN Co today announced that Syntheo, a joint venture between Lend Lease Group and telecommunications and utilities builder and manager Service Stream, has secured the contract to build the National Broadband Network in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

The agreement means NBN Co has now established a program of construction works to upgrade the telecommunication infrastructure in every state and territory of Australia.

The Syntheo contract covers the design and construction of the fibre optic network in the NT and SA over a period of two years, with an option to extend for a two further years.

The value of the initial agreement with Syntheo is approximately $141 million, with a potential value of up to $341 million if extended for a further two years. The terms of the agreement with Syntheo are consistent with those NBN Co negotiated for construction in other states and with NBN Co's Corporate Plan, ensuring value for money for the Australian taxpayer.

In September the company won a similar contract to construct the NBN in Western Australia.

NBN Co Head of Construction, Dan Flemming said:

“This contract completes the picture for the NBN as we are now in a position to start rolling out the National Broadband Network in every state and territory across Australia.

“In fact, work in South Australia and the NT is already underway. We engaged contractors on a temporary basis for on-site design and other preliminary site works so Syntheo can hit the ground running.”

NBN Co's 12-month national rollout schedule, released last month, includes nine sites in South Australia covering more than 63,000 premises and two sites in the NT covering 22,000 premises. Over the next year NBN Co and its construction partners will be operating in 60 communities across the country, rolling out fibre past half a million homes and businesses, not including greenfield sites.”

It is estimated that the average time from the start of works at a site to the activation of first services is around 12 months.

The National Broadband Network includes the rollout of fibre-based wholesale broadband services capable at launch of offering peak speeds of up to 100Mbps*. It is planned to roll out fibre to 93 per cent of Australian premises, with satellite and fixed wireless to serve the final seven per cent.


MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Rhonda Griffin
Phone 02 9927 4015
Mobile 0428 134 401


NOTES TO EDITORS

Further information about NBN Co, its objectives and recent announcement is at www.nbnco.com.au

NBN Co's fibre optic network construction contractors are as follows: Queensland, NSW & ACT (Silcar); Victora (Transfield); WA, SA & NT (Syntheo) and Tasmania (Conneq Infrastructure Services).

Rollout schedule information is available over the page.

* Speeds experienced by end-users will depend on a number of factors including the retail broadband plan they choose, the number of simultaneous users on the service, their equipment and their in-premises connection

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SA & NT: NBN Co 12-month rollout plan

Locations	Network built & ready for service	Work underway (as of 1 Nov 2011)	Design and Construction to start within 12 months (from 1 Oct 2011 to 31 Sep 2012)	Month in which work will commence on the next module4
Northern Territory
Casuarina			10,500	March 12
Darwin		2,900	11,400	Nov 11
South Australia
Aldinga Beach			5,800	March 12
Modbury		2,900	14,500	Oct 11
Port Augusta			6,900	Aug 12
Port Elliot			2,600	Aug 12
Prospect		2,600	10,600	Oct 11
Seaford / McLaren Vale			11,000	April 12
Stirling			7,500	Feb 12
Strathalbyn			2,400	July 12
Yankalilla			2,400	Aug 12
Willunga	1,100

1. List is subject to change

2. Commencement date marks the handover of the desktop design to the construction contractor for final design and construction.

3. NBN Co has only named the start date of the first module in a given locality in which construction is planned over the next year. The approximate number of premises covers only those areas in which construction is due to start in the next year. Most of the sites where construction will start involve multiple modules. There may be further construction modules and homes passed in a locality in subsequent years

4. Month in which work will commence - detailed maps will be grouped together and released as a package on the web site early in the next month

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