The maintenance of telecommunications infrastructure presents similar issues to those evident in other areas.
In the highly competitive telecommunications sector, service providers ordinarily maintain their infrastructure at a level necessary to provide a competitive service. This is particularly the case in the larger urban areas. In smaller regional centres and remote locations, the balance of revenues and costs may lead to pressure to minimise maintenance regimes.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) will present its own short-term and longer term maintenance requirements. There has been some speculation about the maintenance and renewal costs associated with the copper wire network being taken on by NBN Co.