Transfield scores Sydney NBN build contract

$AU170 million for first two years

Northern Territory partner Syntheo might be having trouble matching the pace demanded of it by NBN Co, but the builder of Australia's National Broadband Network is apparently satisfied with Transfield Services, announcing a new contract with the latter covering Sydney.

In a brief statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Transfield Services says that it has been signed for a $AU170 million contract to design and construct the passive optical network in metropolitan and south-east Sydney.

The two-year contract could be extended – if the network survives the looming September election and if nothing goes wrong with the rollout – to a maximum of four years and $AU300 million in value. Transgrid Services has similar responsibilities in Victoria, and also holds a $41 million, three-year contract providing facilities maintenance for NBN Co sites.

The network's detractors didn't even bother to conceal their schadenfraude late last week, when it emerged that the ten-year project had been delayed by three months. ®