Focus on opportunities, not cost: NBN boss

Australians should focus on the opportunities the national broadband network offers, instead of the $49 billion construction cost.

Australians should focus on the opportunities the NBN offers, instead of the construction cost. (AAP)

NBN Co boss Bill Morrow is urging Australians to forget the $49 billion price tag on the national broadband network and focus on the many opportunities it offers.

Mr Morrow believes the public's attention should be on the technological advances the NBN could afford in health, education and entertainment.

"The NBN is unique globally, it will give Australia a unique edge," he said at an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch on Friday.

"We're now entering an exciting time in history, the NBN generation, or GenNBN. It will be a time of rapid change and unique opportunity for all Australians, particularly for our businesses."

YouTube, Netflix, Samsung and LG are all benefiting from technological developments, Mr Morrow said.

All companies should be considering how to make the most of the NBN, Mr Morrow said, urging them to get their "NBN strategy in shape".

"How can you ensure the NBN network is the catalyst for your business, and not just the catalyst for your competition, this is the conversation we need to be having right now," he said.

Mr Morrow played down the changes to the network's technology mix that have been widely criticised, saying the five technologies being used to deliver NBN will make Australia the world's first fully-connected continent.

"By 2020, we'll be the first country of our size to make broadband access universal," Mr Morrow said.

"In the next three years, NBN will put Australia ahead of the world for high speed, universal broadband access."

The federal government has committed to ensuring the network provides download rates of at least 25 megibts per second, which is well below current world standards, though many users will have access to much greater speeds.

Australians should talk to their retail internet providers about their required internet speeds, Mr Morrow said.

NBN Co is on track to connect eight million premises by 2020, up from three million now.