NBN coming to Tasmania: first tender called

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 16 July 2009 11:00

IT Industry - Tenders

"Aurora Energy invites tenders for the Provision and Management of Optic Fibre Cables. Supply may be required for either delivery into Aurora Energy Warehouse facilities or to various locations within the State of Tasmania, on a project-by-project basis.

"The contract may be for a period of three (3) years with an option, at Aurora Energy's discretion,  to extend the contract period for a further two (2) years on a one year, by one-year basis. Aurora Energy reserves the right to either award a contract to one supplier or to establish a non-exclusive panel for the supply of Optic Fibre Cable for specific projects in relation to its fibre network."

One 'naughty' is that the tender documents are only available in a proprietary format used by a Windows-only application. Haven't we got past that sort of nonsense?

David Bartlett, Premier of Tasmania, said "Today's announcement follows a huge amount of preparation including design and planning undertaken by Aurora Energy to enable procurement to start in advance of construction."

The rest of Tasmania will be covered by wireless or satellite services delivering at least 12Mbps.

The plan calls for the delivery of wholesale broadband services on the new network in Tasmania to begin during the second quarter of 2010.

The Federal government expects to provide around $11 billion of the estimated $43 billion cost of the entire NBN.