Australia - ALP says independents are satisfied with the costings of the NBN and did not require further analysis of the likely costs

[the australian] THE rural independents are satisfied with the public costings of the National Broadband Network, the Communications Minister has said.

Stephen Conroy said they did not require a separate cost benefit analysis of the $43 billion project.

His comments came after Treasury's briefing for the independents on the costings of the major parties' policies and their effect on the budget did not include the NBN.

As part of its pre-election economic update, Treasury said the government had set aside $18.3bn in the budget over the next four years for the NBN rollout.

But the cost is not added to the budget deficit because the government argues it will eventually make a commercial return, a conclusion backed by the McKinsey report but rejected by most market analysts.

"We had a discussion around the costings," Senator Conroy said on Sky's Australian Agenda program yesterday.

"All of our costings are out there publicly. They're included in the Treasury calculations. They were in the budget calculations and we had the $25 million McKinsey report."

Labor's promise of a fibre-based NBN has been a key difference between the parties.

The Liberals say it will be a hugely expensive white elephant. Labor argues that only its version will address future telecommunications needs, particularly in regional Australia.

One of the trials of the new fibre network will start next year in Armidale, northern NSW, in the seat of New England independent Tony Windsor.

"I think Tony has understood from the beginning that the best way to end the digital divide, the best way to open up regions like those that he represents, is to give them access to the most future-proof technology that will give equivalence between living in the city and living in regional rural Australia," Senator Conroy said.

"The NBN is clearly something that those three independent country MPs all understand delivers better healthcare in regional Australia; it delivers better education in regional Australia; it opens up small businesses across regional Australia to compete across Australia, and compete across the world."

The Liberals have proposed a more modest $6.3bn plan that would rely on a greater mix of technologies and market forces to deliver high-speed broadband.

The opposition had difficulty in selling its alternative as adequate, especially in allowing rural Australia to have equivalent services to the cities.

Rural trio back NBN sums: Conroy