Budde claims that if they don't a large number people in regional Australia will have to wait till 2020 to get high-speed broadband.

Says Budde: "Telstra's apparent inability to roll out the NBN faster in regional areas would favour the position of the regional bidders such as Axia, TransAct and Tasmania. A possible solution for them could be that the national network gets structurally separated and Telstra keeps the metro network".

Budde says he is concerned that current thinking in Canberra will see the Government leaving the NBN out of its plan for speedy infrastructure action, aimed at boosting the economy out of the current economic slowdown.

Budde's comments came yesterday as Telstra and the rival Terria consortium traded blows about their respective ability to win, finance and carry out the NBN rollout.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy metaphorically rolled his eyes and said the Government's financial stimulus packages had restored confidence among lenders. "Banks are now opening their cheque books again," he said.

"It's too early to suggest that people will not bid on the basis of what's happened over the last few weeks.

Referring to some recent Telstra statements, he claimed NBN building costs had come down in recent weeks. But he gave little hope of an early start to the rollout.