Cockatoos cost Aussie broadband network

Australia's government-built $36 billion broadband network, already under attack from underwhelmed customers, has found a new and formidable enemy - cockatoos are chewing through cables across the country.

Repairing the damage wrought on the broadband system, including replacing steel-braid wires that the pesky parrots have gnawed, has already cost A$80,000 ($61,500), network builder NBN Co said yesterday.

The company estimates the bill could rise sharply as more damage is uncovered and more cables are rolled out in the national telecommunications infrastructure project, which is not due to be completed until around 2021.

"They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across," said NBN Co project manager Chedryian Bresland in a blog post on the company's website yesterday.

"Unfortunately, they've developed a liking to our cables ... these birds are unstoppable when in a swarm."

Yellow-crested cockatoos are prolific in Australia and well-known for their voracious appetites for everything from fruit crops to wooden window frames.