Be careful about how you phrase that, "government is largely funding our new network".
The government is LOANING the money and are expecting to make a profit out of the effort.
The government is LOANING the money and are expecting to make a profit out of the effort.
The clarification is a useful one though.
However, the national broadband network is funded through government loans, but expects to make a profit on the returns from it.
So there is quite a difference in terms of the Government budget. The former are a cost to the budget, with ongoing expense and no expectation of any monetary returns. The latter is forecast to take nothing out of the government budget.