Australia govt gets support for broadband plan

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA: Australia's government secured vital political support for its $35 billion National Broadband Network, putting it a step closer to finalising a $10.8 billion deal with telecoms firm Telstra.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard agreed to release the business plan for NBN -- a demand she had resisted for weeks -- shoring up support for a vote later this week on splitting Telstra's retail and wholesale arms.

"This is a reform literally 30 years in the making," Gillard told reporters on Wednesday.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, whose vote is crucial to pass the bill, said the release of the cost plans, clears a key hurdle.

"With all this information, I believe I will be in a position to make an informed vote when this bill comes to a final vote," said Xenophon, who broadly supports the intent of the legislation.

Telstra shares, which sank to an all-time low earlier this month, rose 1.8 percent on Wednesday against a falling broader market. The shares have gained over 9 percent since hitting a low on Nov 18.

Xenophon said the government has also agreed to set up a parliamentary committee to oversee the entire NBN project.

Gillard said the summary of the NBN's business plan would show the NBN will be financially viable, and would show the NBN would have affordable prices for customers.

"It confirms that NBN Co will receive a rate of return higher than the long-term bond rate," Gillard said.

She said the cost of building the NBN would be lower than initially thought, at around A$35.7 billion compared to previous estimates of up to A$43 billion, due to the involvement of Telstra in the network.

Telstra's deal with the NBN, which will allow the NBN to use Telstra's fixed-line assets, has yet to be approved by Telstra shareholders.

Telstra will finalise details of the NBN deal after the competition regulator makes a ruling at the end of November on how internet retailers can plug into the new government-owned wholesale internet monopoly.