The Coalition Government made the right choice back in 2013 to adopt a multi-technology mix for rolling out the national broadband network, ditching a Labor plan to have fibre to 93% of homes and service the rest through fixed wireless and satellite, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says.

The Australian Labor Party's obsession with neo-liberal economics has doomed the national broadband network right from the time it set up a separate company, NBN Co, in 2009 to build a country-wide network that would be unfit for purpose. Thursday's patchwork approach by NBN Co to filling up the cracks is just the latest indication of this.

The NBN Co has quietly released its third-quarter results for the 2018-19 financial year, showing a growth of 45% in revenue to $2.0 billion year-on-year, but still continuing to bleed red ink with a loss of $2.7 billion for the financial year so far. This takes the accumulated losses to $20.7 billion over the lifespan of the company.