Ventia awarded $2.1b NBN contract

The news: Infrastructure group Ventia has been awarded a $2.1 billion contract by NBN to deliver maintenance and customer services across the government-owned telco's broadband network in Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania.

The numbers: Ventia shares were up 0.7% to $4.19 at 11:25am AEDT, extending gains of around 10% since the turn of the year.

The context: Ventia has been a strategic partner to NBN since 2010. The five-year contract, which will commence in September, carries an option to be extended by three years, at NBN’s discretion.