ARN

NBN Co CEO, Mike Quigley, retires

Will continue in position unti the board finds a successor
Mike Quigley

Mike Quigley

NBN Co CEO, Mike Quigley, will retire from corporate life after four years driving the National Broadband Network build.

He will continue in the position until the board appoints a successor to oversee the next stage of the company’s development.

Quigley, who came out of retirement to become NBN Co’s founding CEO, said, “My job was to lay the foundations for the NBN for the next 30 years. That job is largely complete.

“NBN Co is now a well-established wholesale telecommunications company with a nationwide workforce, delivery partners, infrastructure agreements, complex IT systems and more than 40 retail customers which are supplying fast, reliable and affordable broadband to a growing number of Australians,” he said.

According to Quigley, the role of the next CEO is to build on these foundations.

“It is now critical that we further strengthen our partnerships across the construction and telecommunications industries, as we escalate the build of the network and work closely with our retail customers to ensure a smooth migration of families and businesses to the NBN.”

Quigley claimed that regardless of his departure, he is confident that the NBN build will be delivered by 2021 in line with the projections in the company’s corporate plan.

“I joined NBN Co because I believed better telecommunications was central to Australia’s ongoing success. I still believe that today. The ramp-up in construction and the news last week that the company had passed more than 200,000 premises with fibre gives me further confidence,” he added.

A joint statement by minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, Anthony Albanese, and minister for finance, Penny Wong, thanked Quigley for his role in establishing NBN Co, rolling out a communications network to all Australians, and helping build the infrastructure Australia needs for the 21st century.

“Quigley has overseen [NBN Co’s] development from the very beginning. He was eager to join the project because he understood the importance of nation-building infrastructure that is essential for our nation’s economic future,” it read.

The statement also outlined Quigley's instrumental role in negotiating the deal with Telstra, which paved the way for the NBN rollout.

“He has also successfully managed the switching on of fibre, fixed wireless and satellite connections right across the country, as NBN Co has established the full scale rollout of the NBN,” it stated.

Telecommunications industry body, Communications Alliance, paid tribute to the efforts of Quigley too.

Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, said Quigley's willingness to take on the task of building Australia's largest infrastructure project in a politically-charged environment spoke volumes about his commitment to Australia's communications future.