The founder of one the nation’s most successful broadband companies has slammed the technological choices under­pinning the NBN.

NBN Co board member Simon Hackett, co-founder of Internode, says fibre-to-the-node technology “sucks” and he wishes it would disappear.

The Coalition’s most recent NBN plan will has sought the cheap option – and plans to piggy-back a fibre-optic network on to Telstra’s existing copper infrastructure for much of the country.

Mr Hackett said he would prefer that NBN Co had picked fibre-to-the-premise technology.

“Fibre-to-the-node does suck, it’s just what the current policy is to build,” he said.

“If I could wave a wand, it’s the bit I’d erase.

“The NBN is starting to gather some steam and 10 years from now the NBN is going to be a critical part of the environment in the fixed-line network in Australia.

“It’s not perfect. I would much prefer that we said I don’t care what it costs and everyone is going to get fibre … but as long as we get to everybody and as long as we keep going back to them, it is a hell of a lot better than not doing it,” Mr Hackett said.

On separate note, Mr Hackett predicted that Vodafone Australia would either be bought out or merged with a fixed-line internet provider in coming months.

This proposition was dismissed by a Vodafone spokesperson as “pure speculation”.