Malcolm Turnbull issues new instructions to NBN Co Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull releasing his interim statement of expectations of the NBN Co. Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has issued new instructions to NBN Co to start testing copper-based broadband technologies, but has left long-term changes to the project until after a strategic review. The review will be conducted by NBN Co itself, but cannot start until cabinet appoints a new board. The existing board resigned after the new Abbott government asked it too, according to Mr Turnbull. ""That request should not be regarded as any criticism of any of the directors....the reason for that was simply to give the government complete flexibility in remaking the board in light of its new policy agenda, and decisions about the board will be taken by Cabinet in due course"" Mr Turnbull said in Sydney on Tuesday. Fibre optic cable is rolled out at Midway point near Hobart, Tasmania. Photo: Peter Mathew He also told NBN Co to complete the fibre rollout where construction contracts are still current, with construction at 300,000 premises expected to be completed soon. Construction may potentially start at a further 900,000 premises currently listed on NBN Co's one-year rollout plan, where detailed design work has been done, depending on the outcome of the strategic review. NBN Co has also been instructed to start testing copper-based technologies, such as vectored ADSL, which Mr Turnbull expects will be used to connect apartment and office blocks. ""A key priority will be to reduce the backlog of 66,000 premises passed by the NBN fibre network which cannot currently obtain a service,"" he said. ""These decisions will ensure there is a steady flow of work on the NBN until well into 2014. This will provide certainty for contractors and ensure they do not have to demobilise work forces. We expect this period of review will lead to revisions to the timing of the roll out and to updated forecasts. It is important to bear in mind, however, that the NBN rollout has, to date, repeatedly missed its targets,"" he told journalists. ""It is our goal following the completion of the review and the [new] corporate plan to see the NBN Co set realistic rollout targets and then consistently deliver on them."" Mr Tunbull said NBN Co told the government was revising down its target for premises passed at June 30, 2014 from 981,000 to 729,000. A spokesman for NBN Co said this latest revision "reflects the impact of Telstra's five-month remediation stoppage." Telstra halted remediation work on its infrastructure in May after unions raised concerns about contractors working with asbestos without proper training or protective equipment. The new statement of expectations replaces the instructions written by the former government, which asked NBN Co to connect 93 per cent of premises in Australia with fibre-to-the-premises technology. Mr Turnbull said he had addressed NBN Co staff and asked them to provide him with ""plain unvarnished facts"" and that he wanted NBN Co to be more transparent than a publicly listed company. ""What we need in the future is the facts. It is always nice to get good news, I am interested in the facts, the true news, what is actually happening."" Negotiations with Telstra would start after the new board is appointed, he said.