A $141 million deal between NBN Co and joint venture company, Syntheo, to build the National Broadband Network (NBN) in South Australia and the Northern Territory has been signed.
Syntheo, a partnership between Lend Lease Group and telecommunications builder Service Stream, will design and construct the fibre optic network over the next two years, with the option of extending the contract for a further two years.
The agreement is worth $141 million. However, if extended out to four years it could be worth up to $341 million.
In September, Syntheo won a contract worth $174 million to construct the NBN in Western Australia.
The contract was for an initial two-year term worth up to $174 million, with an option of a further two years bringing the total potential value to $484 million.
NBN Co head of construction, Dan Flemming, said in a statement that works in South Australia and the Northern Territory are underway.
“We engaged contractors on a temporary basis for on-site design and other preliminary site works so Syntheo can hit the ground running,” he said.
In October, NBN Co released a 12-month rollout schedule which includes nine sites in South Australia covering more than 63,000 premises and two sites in the Northern Territory covering 22,000 premises.
Sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia were also announced. The 12-month schedule will be updated on a quarterly basis to include additional locations and is subject to change.
“Over the next year, the company 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,” Flemming said.
Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick
Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.