Australia election threatens shape of $34 billion broadband plan

The future of an ambitious project to connect almost all Australia's far-flung inhabitants to high-speed internet, the largest infrastructure enterprise in the country's history, is hanging on the outcome of an upcoming federal election.

The Labor government and conservative Liberal-led opposition have vastly differing plans for the A$37.4 billion ($34.2 billion) National Broadband Network (NBN), potentially hurting some business stakeholders and opening the door to others, including China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labor government has promised to deliver Internet speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 93 percent of premises by 2021 using fiber-optic cables, with the remaining remote locations served by satellite and fixed wireless. A national high-speed network is central to Australia's plans to become one of the world's leading "digital economies" as it seeks alternative drivers of growth to replace a fading mining investment boom.