NBN Co has finally found a contractor to build the initial stages of the national broadband network within the company's price range, acting CEO Kevin Brown says.
Mr Brown said the decision to suspend previous construction tenders earlier this year had been heavily criticised but he had always believed the company could get a better deal.
"After eight weeks of intense negotiations with a highly respected construction company, Silcar, we've reached agreement to begin rolling out our fibre optics network cable across Queensland, NSW and the ACT," Mr Brown told reporters on Wednesday.
"This represents 40 per cent of all construction activity over the next two years across Australia. "I'm delighted to say that the price we achieved is in line with our corporate plan."
The Silcar contract is worth $380 million over the next two years, with the option of a further two years at an additional price of $740 million.
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Construction will start in November and Silcar expects to reach full deployment by the middle of next year.
Silcar is a joint venture between a Leighton subsidiary and Siemens. Other construction tenders would be announced in August, Mr Brown said.
The company also announced a 10-year, $1.1 billion contract with Ericsson to build and operate a 4G fixed-wireless network for the seven per cent of Australia not covered by fibre.
The superfast fixed wireless broadband network would cover rural and regional areas by 2015, the company said.
