Corning wins NBN Tasmania fibre contract

Corning Cable Systems (CCS) has been awarded a National Broadband Network (NBN) Tasmania tender for end-to-end supply of the passive fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) network. This tender, issued by Aurora Energy on behalf of NBN Tasmania Ltd, will see FTTP rolled out to the first 5000 homes in Tasmania and will eventually see FTTP provided to 90% of the Australian population over an approximately eight-year build period.

Earlier in 2009, CCS received a contract to supply fibre-optic backhaul cable in the first tender released under the Australian government’s NBN initiative. This contract, in addition to the FTTP tender contract, follows the investment of new cable manufacturing equipment at the CCS Clayton plant in July, which put CCS in a prime position to supply materials for the NBN initiative.

CCS will primarily use its aerial FlexNAP system to connect the communities of Smithton, Scottsdale and Midway Point. In addition to the FlexNAP system, CCS will be supplying a complete connectorised network solution for brownfield underground FTTP deployments.

Australian Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, visited the CCS facility in Clayton in December to deliver news of the contract personally to Rainer Dittrich, Australian Managing Director for CCS.

Stage one of the NBN rollout in Tasmania is expected to be complete by mid-2010.