Australia - the NBN was a key to convincing independents to back ALP

[the australian] Labor's $43 billion National Broadband Network helped save it from a first-term defeat, convincing two independents to back Julia Gillard.

Under a deal struck with Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, Ms Gillard has promised to prioritise the roll-out of the NBN to country people ahead of those in major cities.

The Prime Minister has also promised equal wholesale pricing for those in regional areas. However, this was something that had already been strongly supported by industry and NBN Co.

Broadband was one of the major areas of policy difference during the election campaign. The opposition vowed to dump it and instead deliver a more modest $6bn mix of technologies that relied more heavily on private sector investment to expand internet services across the country.

The independents' decision to back Labor guarantees the future of the NBN.

Tony Abbott yesterday warned the NBN would be a "minefield of waste and incompetence".

"My strong suspicion is that the NBN is going to turn out to be school halls on steroids," the Opposition Leader said.

Mr Windsor said the NBN was central to his decision to support Ms Gillard over Mr Abbott. "For millions of country Australians, I thought (this) was too good an opportunity to miss," he said.

Mr Windsor said his advisers had told him: "You do it once, you do it right and you do it with fibre."

Ms Gillard said the guarantee of equal wholesale prices would transform telecommunications in the bush. "We want to equalise the cost of telecommunications across this country. What a transformation," she said.

However, she flagged there were further commercial questions that needed to be explored.

NBN Co yesterday welcomed the decision by the independents to back Labor.

A spokeswoman said NBN Co had been continuing with business, but would now work to restore deferred processes, including the recruitment of staff.

The telecommunications industry also welcomed Labor's return to government, with Telstra saying it would continue to engage constructively with the government, including on the NBN.

Broadband network convinced independents to back Labor