The Coalition is indicating that it will stand its ground on its broadband policy. The party is signaling that it will not try to please country independents who will decide which of the major parties will form a minority government.

The broadband issue was considered as a source of contention between the parties during the election campaign.

The issue will be a key point in negotiations between the independents and Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott due to a hung parliament. Both Labor and the Coalition need the support of independents to gain power.

Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter, who are all former National Party members turned independents, have all nominated broadband as a key concern. They have all lent their support to the $43 billion National Broadband Network.

The project is expected to deliver speeds of at least 100 megabits per second to 93 per cent of the population. The electorates in their regions currently rely on slow dial-up connections and sub-par communications services.

The Liberals have promised to scrap the NBN. The party proposes a plan that will provide peak Internet speeds of 12 megabits per second to 97 per cent of the population. In contrast to the Labor project, the infrastructure will be privately owned and will be based on existing infrastructure and wireless.

Andrew Robb, the shadow finance minister, said the Coalition's $6.3 billion broadband policy was already the strongest for rural and regional Australia.

"The Coalition's broadband package as it stands, unlike Labor's, places highest priority on delivering improved services to blackspot areas, including throughout rural and regional Australia," Robb said.

"It will see new competitive fibre backhaul rolled out in those regions which lack it and it will see satellite and wireless services enhanced across the country. In this regard, the fibre backbone, rolled out to all corners of Australia, will be equivalent to that delivered by NBNCo."

"Another important component of our package is a competitive grants stream to allow for upgrades of the existing fixed line network to bring services such as ADSL2+ to communities that currently don't have access to it."

Abbott, when asked if he would change his broadband policy for the sake of independents, said he did not want to "pre-empt" the discussions but he intended to "be very pragmatic, but within the broad policy parameters which we discussed during the election".

Gillard, on the other hand, continued her praise of the NBN, saying the project would help bridge the divide between metropolitan and regional Australia.

The broadband plan from the Coalition, which will depend on contributions from the private sector, has been criticized by the internet industry and communications experts. Industry experts say that in spite the cost of Labor's fibre-to-the-home package, it will be faster and more future-proof.

The Australian Financial Review earlier reported that The Australian Information Industry Association is trying to organize a discussion with independent MPs to urge them to stick with the NBN.

Katter, from North Queensland, said that broadband is high on his list of priorities. He is against the project being privately run. Windsor, who is from New England in northern NSW, has a similar stance. He has voice his opposition to the Coalition's plan. Windsor said that relying on competition to deliver broadband to the country would lead to disaster.

Jason Ashton, BigAir's chief executive officer of BigAir, is the dissenting voice in the industry. Ashton says that the Coalition plan will be sufficient, adding that wireless speeds are constantly increasing and will eventually reach the 1Gbps speeds of the NBN.

"The NBN has the potential to become an expensive white elephant... We have several fixed networks in this country that cover a large number of households including two HFC [hybrid fibre and coaxial] networks, one copper network and multiple wireless networks - so why would the government overbuild all these existing private networks? It looks like sovereign risk to me," he said.