NBN headquarters could be distributed between cities

An indication that the headquartering functions for the National Broadband Network (NBN) could be distributed between vying major cities has been welcomed by industry representatives.

Robert Schwarten, ICT Minister for Queensland, told The Australian that NBN Co chairman Michael Quigley had suggested the various roles of the NBN headquarters could be dispersed among the major cities bidding for the role.

Ian Birks, Australian Information Industry Association chief, said that a distributed model would share the benefits of managing the $43 billion infrastructure project and could harness the strengths of each capital’s bid.

“Most large corporations work very effectively across multiple locations, so it’s not a major stumbling block in terms of practicality - it’s more where they can get the best resourcing to meet their requirements,” Birks said.

“It may well be that the certain specialisations they are looking for might be more strongly supported by particular locations.”

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have all put forward bids to host the NBN base of operations, with the decision in the hands of NBN Co’s board of directors .