Michelle Rowland concedes that there must be a trade-off between its commercial aims and its policy goal to deliver fast, reliable and affordable internet services.
In a rewritten statement of expectations, the minister also acknowledged that there must be a trade-off between the NBN’s commercial aims and its policy goal to deliver “fast, reliable and affordable” internet to Australians.
It raises the question of whether NBN can recoup and pay a commercial return on the government’s $31.9 billion equity stake yet again, after weeks of speculation following a decision to no longer seek to recover the full $44 billion sunk into the initial build. The new statement of expectations still sets out that NBN Co “must operate efficiently within its capital constraints and proactively manage costs” to operate on a commercial basis.