Australian telco NBN Corporation to slash at least 800 jobs as its initial network build approaches completion. The layoffs are also a part of its major restructuring efforts. Currently, the internet service provider has 6,300 people working for its various projects. Stephen Rue, NBN Co CEO, said by the end of the year the headcount would be reduced to 5,500 people. 

11.73 million Australian homes and businesses are able to connect to their network through NBN Co [1]. The company says it has exceeded its targets for the build for the fiscal year 2020 that it had announced in its Corporate Plan 2020-2023. About 100,000 connections are yet to be completed, which will happen by the end of this year.

The new structure of NBN Co

The telecommunication giant has put all the major internal restructuring activities on hold over the past 6 months. The reason behind the halt is staying resourced enough to meet the added operational and data costs and demands brought on the pandemic crisis. The restructure will be effective starting from 3rd August 2020.

Following are the changes made to the organization structure by NBN Co:

  1. Under the new structure of NBN Co, the organization plans to consolidate its Marketing and Sales teams for both commercial and residential customers. The combined unit will be called Customer, Product and Marketing and is to be led by Brad Whitcomb as Chief Customer Officer.
  2. Networks, Engineering and Security business unit will be set up to Integrate Engineering, Networks, Technology and Architecture functions of the organization and will be led by Chief Engineering Officer John Parkin.
  3. The telco’s Network Planning and Development will be renamed and moved into the Operations department and will be led by its Chief Operations Officer, Katherine Dyer.
  4. The company’s Strategy and Transformation department will absorb Legal, Data and Analytics will be renamed to Strategic Services and continues to be led by Will Irving, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer.
  5. The Finance, Service and Analytics unit will be renamed to Finance. Chief Finance Officer Philip Knox will take charge of this unit.

SEE ALSO: Optus tests 5G mmWave spectrum at 4 locations in Sydney

More about the announcement

In a statement, NBN Co CEO Rue added that for decades, the company’s single-minded mission has been to build reliable, secure and fast broadband networks in the country that will seamlessly serve the needs to their customers and benefit the country for generations to come. Mr Rue added that as they approach the ending stages of the initial build, the changes in company size and shape have to be addressed. 

Of the complex connections that are yet to be rolled out, 80% should be finished by the end of this year. The remaining 20% will be taken care of in the next year. The budget for the NBN Co now is at $52.5 billion which includes $29.5 billion in the equity of the federal government and $19.5 billion govt loan along with private debts.

Source

NBN Co (2020) “Corporate Plan 2020-2023” Available from: https://www.nbnco.com.au/corporate-information/media-centre/corporate-plan-2020-2023 Accessed [July 2020]

SEE ALSO: Telstra & Optus get $50 million to build 21 new mobile towers in NSW

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Image Courtesy: Dushan Hanuska from Flickr