Australian government tells NBN Co. to charge developers for fiber connections

Australia's NBN Co. plans to charge developers and owners of new residential apartment blocks fees that range into the thousands of dollars if they want to connect its fiber to their properties, according to a new Australian government policy.

The new policy updates a 2011 policy that charged NBN Co. with meeting the cost of providing fiber to new developments near its fiber footprint because the previous policy "unduly tilted the playing field against private infrastructure providers," according to a government report.

"While the government supports NBN Co.'s participation in the new developments market, this should not be at the expense of competition," the new policy said. "NBN Co. has been able to provide 'free' infrastructure in part because it recovers these costs later from access charges, but also because it is supported by taxpayers."

Conceding that NBN Co.'s "size and reach" will give it an advantage, "this policy update will significantly level the playing field," and "at the end of the day, it will be up to providers to compete on their merits," the new policy states.

For more:
- IT News has this story
- the Australian government had this policy revision

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