The National Broadband Network has dumped its plan to use Optus cables to deliver high-speed broadband less than a year after rubbishing reports the $800 million network was in a dire state and may be unusable.
Leaked internal NBN documents, published by Fairfax Media last year, revealed the company was considering moving to a "Plan B" for the Optus Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) network, rather than upgrading it as had originally been planned.
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Turnbull: I've 'turned around' the NBN
The Prime Minister cites the National Broadband Network as one the projects he's made successful on ABC's 7:30.
The documents stated the Optus network was "not fully fit for purpose" and some equipment was "arriving at the end of life" and would need to be replaced.
At the time NBN dismissed the scenario outlined in the documents as "purely a theoretical exercise as part of our risk mitigation approach".
A trial of the Optus HFC network in Queensland had shown the network "can deliver good speeds and is in satisfactory condition", a spokesman said.
But on Wednesday NBN announced it would abandon the Optus HFC rollout entirely and instead deploy a new technology, fibre-to-the-distribution-point (FTTdp), to up to 700,000 premises.
Acknowledging the Optus HFC network was not "NBN-ready", the company said FTTdp would provide a better customer experience and value for money than upgrading the old network.
The leak of the Optus HFC documents - and subsequent leaks from within NBN - so angered the company that it lodged a referral with the Australian Federal Police last December.
The AFP later raided the home of a Labor staffer and the office of former communications minister Stephen Conroy during the federal election campaign in a bid to track down the leaker.
NBN's chief network engineering officer, Peter Ryan, said, the decision to switch technologies showed the company's "flexible and technology-agnostic approach".
Colloquially known as fibre-to-the-driveway, FTTdp sits between Labor's preferred technology (which runs fibre directly to most homes) and the Coalition's fibre-to-the-node alternative which runs fibre to the end of the street.
The Labor government paid $800 million to Optus in 2011 to migrate its subscribers to the NBN and planned to decommission its HFC network in favour of a full fibre rollout.
After the Abbott government came to power and pursued a multi-technology mix rollout, NBN renegotiated its deal with Optus so it could use its HFC network to deliver broadband services.
"This deal will bring down the overall cost of building the NBN and enable us to complete the rollout much earlier than originally anticipated with less disruption to residents and communities," NBN chief executive Bill Morrow said in December 2014.
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said the decision showed NBN is no longer "theological" in its approach and is willing to change direction if superior technologies become available.
Pressed on whether leaked documents had proved accurate, Senator Fifield told Sky News: "NBN as a good business are constantly doing scenario planning."
He laid the blame at Labor for paying $800 million to Optus in the first place.
Labor communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland said: "This confirms what everyone already knew – that the HFC network was a lemon and could not deliver the broadband speeds and quality Australians expect and deserve."
Former Labor communications minister Stephen Conroy has claimed parliamentary privilege over documents seized by police from his Melbourne office and in separate raids on Parliament House.
He has vowed to continue his fight to keep the documents under seal after he officially retires from the Senate on Friday.
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