NBN Co picks Service Stream/Lend Lease JV for WA FTTH rollout

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 10:39

IT Industry - Deals

NBN Co has awarded a contract worth up to $174m for its FTTH rollout in WA to Service Stream's (ASX: SSM) Syntheo joint venture with Lend Lease.

The contract is for an initial two year term worth up to $174m, with an option of a further two years bringing the total potential value to $484 million.

NBN Co is also due to announce its contractor for Victoria. NBN Co announced this morning that CEO, Mike Quigley, and head of construction, Dan Flemming, would "provide an update on the construction procurement process relevant to Western Australia and Victoria," at 13:00 hrs today 6 September. Syntheo had also bid for this business, according to an investor presentation last month.

Syntheo is a 50/50 joint venture between Service Stream and the project management and construction arm of Lend Lease. The win is the first for the JV which, Service Stream says, will continue to bid for additional NBN design and construction work as it becomes available.

Syntheo managing director, Graeme Sumner, said that the win was a tribute to the combined strengths that Service Stream and Lend Lease brought to the joint venture. Work on the project is expected to commence immediately upon final approval by the board of NBN Co.

Service Stream is an industrial services enterprise with outsourced infrastructure deployment, management and service capabilities across 55 locations throughout Australia. It has technical workforce of over 4,000

Service Stream was chosen by Fujitsu Australia as its construction partner for the $100m NBN co greenfield fibre rollout contract, announced in May.

In April Service Stream was awarded a contract to run NBN Co's public contact centre, initially, with a staff of around a dozen people. "Staffing levels are expected to grow substantially over the following 12 months as the company prepares for the rollout of its fibre network across Australia." NBN Co said at the time>