The G9 consortium has appointed Michael Egan as its chairman. In his new role, he will be charged with driving the direction of G9 and its national broadband network project bid.
"His objectives are to ensure a level playing field for our bid, which we're very serious about winning," Primus CEO, Ravi Bhatia, said.
Egan holds a number of senior roles including chancellor of Macquarie University, chairman of the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology and chairman of the Australia Day Council of New South Wales.
Egan was also the treasurer of NSW from 1995 to 2005 and the NSW minister for development as well as NSW minister for energy.
Members of the G9 consortium include AAPT, iiNet, Internode, Macquarie Telecom, Optus, PowerTel, Primus, Soul and TransAct. Bhatia said G9 was in the process of developing its bid for the Federal Government's national broadband project, which is due in July. G9 have also applied for an extension on the three-month tender process for an additional five months.
"Given the volume of information and the task, three months is not enough," Bhatia said. "The project is supposed to be done over about seven years. If we do it right, then the delivery date and costs of the project doesn't shift."