NBN Co's $400m Big Kahuna Burger goes to Nokia

Renai LeMay
Thursday, 28 October 2010 15:00

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The National Broadband Network Company has awarded an extensive contract to Nokia Siemens Networks which will see the Finnish networking giant supply up to $400 million worth of optical transmission equipment to the national fibre rollout over the next ten years.

NBN Co head of Corporate Services Kevin Brown said the proposed initial purchase order under the contract would be for $10 million worth of kit and would include the acquisition of laboratory testing equipment and systems to support early release sites '” which are currently being rolled out.

Brown praised the supplier '” which has also recently won a contract of similar magnitude to manage the combined 3G networks of mobile carrier VHA '” as a 'high-quality global and local supplier' which employed over 600 people in Australia '” with offices in Sydney and Melbourne.

'Their proven track record in Australia, utilising local expertise combined with global capability, is a sound starting point in the future of our partnership,' Brown said.

The contract award will come as a blow to rival firms such as Chinese vendor Huawei, French supplier Alcatel-Lucent and Swedish giant Ericsson. NBN Co has not disclosed which suppliers competed for the bid, but Huawei, Alcatel and Ericsson are known to play in the optical transmission market. For example, Ericsson won a similar deal with VHA recently, for an undisclosed amount.