The costs of installing the various technologies that are part of the national broadband network have stayed more or less static since the last quarter, according to figures released by NBN Co today.
The company released results for the first quarter of fiscal 2018, showing that costs for installing fibre-to-the-premises for established homes has fallen by just $7 since the end of June.
In the case of new homes, the cost fell by $79, while the cost of fibre-to-the-node connections rose by $41 since the end of June.
Installing HFC also rose by an average of $9 while fixed wireless costs per installation fell by $20.
{loadposition sam08}But employee benefits went up sharply at the loss-making government entity, rising from $183 million in the first quarter that ended in September 2016, to $208 million in the first quarter of the current financial year.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the NBN Co spent nearly half a million dollars on coffee for its staff.
There is still no change in the take-up of faster services. Among the fixed line connections, only 13% opted for the fastest 100Mbps/40 plans while 52% went for 25Mbps/5 plans.
And 30% went even lower, opting for 12Mbps/1 plans.
The fixed wireless and satellite customers do not have an 100Mbps/40 option. The fastest option for wireless is 50Mbps/20 and only 7% opted for that. The majority, 76%, went for 25Mbps/5 connections.
Satellite users were divided between the 12Mbps/1 (34%) and 25Mbps/5 (66%).