THE rollout of the national broadband network is behind schedule because of delays in striking a deal with Telstra and issuing construction contracts.

 

And an inquiry will be held into the need for large battery units to be installed at all homes and businesses connected to NBN Co's fibre, following complaints from residents testing the broadband network.

 

NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley yesterday confirmed the rollout was ''several months'' behind because regulatory and commercial negotiations had taken longer than expected.

 

''We have got certain areas that we are right on [time] in what we expected to do in terms of the technology and the trials and all others,'' he said.

 

''[But] there is the actual build itself in which it clearly has been impacted by the time it took to do the Telstra deal and the fact that we took a little longer to negotiate the first of the construction contracts.''

 

Meanwhile, NBN Co is reconsidering the need for back-up batteries to be installed in every house with a fibre connection, Mr Quigley revealed.

 

Batteries were considered necessary because electricity is needed to send light signals along NBN Co's fibre. In a blackout, these lights would switch off. The existing copper network can work in a blackout because the metal carries its own current.

 

''It is a very difficult issue because you do want to make sure that voice services continue [for] those people who only have a voice service,'' he said at the CommsDay conference in Melbourne.

 

''If [the battery] was a very small thing … you would say - let's just do it all. But they are quite large units and the battery has to be disposed of, so there is a trade-off there.''

 

Mr Quigley pointed out that many households eschewed fixed lines altogether or used cordless phones that required additional power and which would not work in a blackout, even on the copper network or a functioning fibre service. He warned that ''there is potentially a lot of back-up battery units being deployed for little return''.

 

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the government would seek feedback on the batteries.

 

The chief of industry body Communications Alliance, John Stanton, said service providers would prefer an opt-in system. ''We think that the provision of mandatory batteries will probably add about $150 million of unnecessary expense to the rollout of the NBN,'' he said.

 

Green groups had also complained about the environmental cost of installing 10 million lead-acid batteries.

source: www.wotnews.com.au/news