NBN Co urged to be more transparent
- — 07 April, 2011 09:39
The company rolling out the national broadband network (NBN) has been urged to be more transparent about who will eventually lay its high-speed cables.
NBN Co's $36 billion mission to reach 93 per cent of Australia homes is in disarray following the resignation of its construction head Patrick Flannigan.
Dan Flemming has been appointed in an acting role, but a timeframe is yet to be set on finding a permanent replacement.
NBN Co's leadership woes come only days after the government business enterprise suspended its tendering process, arguing the 14 companies bidding for a contract were quoting inflated prices.
The company has told the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union that it is in talks with a major construction firm as it seeks an alternative to tendering.
The union's NBN project co-ordinator Allen Hicks said NBN Co should publicly name this building company.
"We've been urging them to release that information so it does get confidence back in the market," he told AAP on Wednesday.
Mr Hicks said he was confident a permanent replacement for Mr Flannigan would be decided in weeks rather than months.
With the tendering process suspended indefinitely, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has accused NBN Co of grotesquely underestimating costs.
"When you think of what's involved in putting a cable to something like 10 million households, it was never going to be done for that price," he told reporters at Guyra, in northern NSW.
"It's yet another act of deception by the Rudd-Gillard government."
Prime Minister Julia Gillard declined to be drawn on the resignation of Mr Flannigan, who had 25 years experience in the infrastructure services sector.
"A senior figure in the national broadband network has resigned and as he has gone to look for other opportunities, he said: 'This is a courageous and visionary project'," she told reporters in Brisbane.
