Australian planned broadband network boosted to 1Gb/s

The ruling Australian Labor party has announced that the planned national broadband network has been upgraded to 1Gb/s at no additional cost.

However the future of NBN, as it's known in Australia, is already in doubt with the opposition Liberal party saying they will scrap the AU$43 billion (£25 billion) scheme. The NBN has turned into a campaign issue ahead of a what is expected to be a close fought election when the country heads to the polls in just nine days time.

The announcement came as prime minister Julia Gillard accompanied byl communications minister Stephen Conroy were on the island-state of Tasmania to launch the first section of the national fibre-optic network, immediately facing criticism of the timing of the announcement. However Conroy told the ABC that he had only been informed of the speed upgrade the night before.

"The NBN is probably the definitive issue of the campaign, especially for Tasmania where it has all begun and we are rolling out the cable first," Gillard said. "It is particularly important for Tasmania, especially where broadband has been lagging behind the rest of the country for so long."

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