Instead, construction duties have fallen to Lend Lease subsidiary Conneq Infrastructure Services, which had submitted one of 14 bids for the national construction tender as part of a joint venture with Leighton Holdings firm John Holland.

Network wholesaler NBN Co citing bid submissions overcoming the company's expectations. It is believed to be in private talks with another Leighton Holdings firm, Silcar, for primary contractor rights to nationwide, business-as-usual construction beyond the first and second release sites.

Conneq will roll out fibre-to-the-home technology to 11,150 premises at the towns of Deloraine, Kingston Beach, George Town, Sorell, South Hobart, St Helens and Triabunna. Rollout in the state is expected to begin in May in Triabunna and Sorell, with construction staged to begin across the remaining five sites between July and October. The sites will likely receive a high level of take-up due to opt-out legislation passed through state Parliament earlier in the year.

NBN Co acting head of construction, Dan Flemming, said in a statement that the staged construction would allow the wholesaler to incorporate learnings from established rollouts in stage one Tasmanian and mainland sites.

The exact location of fibre-connected premises became a cause for concern earlier this year, with communities in Bell Bay, Meander Valley and the East Tamar region near the chosen sites complaining of on town planning.