The NBN chief executive, Bill Morrow, will quit his role by the end of the year, ending four years heading the rollout of the national broadband network during which he oversaw a massive change of direction in the nation’s largest infrastructure project.
Morrow said in a note to staff that it was “with a heavy heart” that he was leaving.
“At times my role at NBN has been challenging, relentless and, yes, sometimes frustrating, but never has there been a time that I wasn’t proud to be a part of the NBN team,” Morrow said in the note.
Morrow was brought in as CEO of NBN Co in 2014, coming across from his post as CEO of Vodafone Australia, where he had overseen a turnaround of the telco. He replaced the inaugural NBN CEO, Mike Quigley, who clashed with Malcolm Turnbull when he was opposition communications spokesman.
While the government has praised Morrow’s leadership, he endured a number of difficulties with the rollout of the network, including soaring levels of complaints and plummeting public support for the government’s model of using fibre-to-the-node and existing hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) networks.
A Guardian Essential poll in October found that more than 50% of Australians believed the national broadband network would fail to meet the country’s future internet needs and almost 40% blamed the Turnbull government for problems.
Forty-three per cent believed Labor’s NBN plan, which involved fibre-to-the-premises outside of rural areas, a more costly and time-consuming process that would have resulted in higher speeds, was the better plan for Australia. The Coalition’s switch to fibre-to-the-node was favoured by just 24% of respondents.
NBN Co was also forced to suspend the rollout of the hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network in 2017 after complaints from customers.
The network has also suffered from a low rates of take-up with consumers failing to show enthusiasm. A draft report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released last year found that while about six million Australians had access to the NBN, only about half had taken it up.
Morrow was also at the helm in 2016 when NBN Co asked the Australian federal police to investigate leaks from the company to the federal opposition and journalists. That investigation culminated in AFP raids on the offices of Senator Stephen Conroy and the home of a Labor staffer during the middle of the federal election campaign.
The leaks had embarrassed the government by showing the costs of the NBN rollout had blown out during Turnbull’s time as communications minister and as a result of the move to fibre-to-the-node.
The NBN chairman, Ziggy Switkowski, said Australia had been fortunate to have Morrow lead the NBN project.
“While we will be sorry to see him leave, Bill has built a resilient, performance-driven organisation which will build on his legacy,” Switkowski said.
The federal communications minister, Mitch Fifield, and finance minister, Mathias Cormann, thanked Morrow for his leadership of the NBN project, saying it had met all operational and financial targets during his tenure.
“The extended notice provided by Mr Morrow will enable the NBN Co board to undertake a thorough domestic and international search for his successor, and facilitate a smooth transition within the executive leadership team,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
• With Australian Associated Press
