NBN Co. inks Corning, Prysmian for Australian NBN FTTH fiber

JANUARY 17, 2010 -- NBN Co., the company established to oversee construction of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), has signed contracts with Corning Cable Systems Pty. Ltd. and Prysmian to supply fiber for the FTTH project.

The Australian arm of Corning Cable Systems received the larger deal. The company reports an initial order of AUS $400 million (US $398 million) from a contract with a potential total value of AUS $1.2 billion ($US 1.19 billion). Corning will supply its FlexNAP terminal distribution system with RPX ribbon cable for aerial installations and its ALTOS ribbon cable for underground installations.

NBN Co. granted Prysmian an initial order worth AUS $150 million (US $149 million) on a contract with a potential total value of AUS $300 million (US $298.4 million) for the supply of ribbon and other multi-fiber cables. In turn, Prysmian will invest around €10 million (US $13.3 million) to manufacture the cables at its facility in Dee Why, Australia as part of a commitment to source in Australia approximately 80% of the value of its NBN contract.

With the signing of the cabling contracts, most of the major items would appear to be in place. NBN Co. has already signed deals with Alcatel-Lucent for GPON hardware as well as with Nokia Siemens.

The controversial NBN FTTH government project aims to create an open-access fiber optic network that will pass 93 percent of Australian homes and businesses within the next 10 years. The project has so far withstood repeated attempts to either scale it back or stop it completely, and was one of the major issues in Australia’s most recent national elections.