Speaking publicly in his role for the first time, Mr Quigley challenged research showing users could face charges of up to $215 a month for the $43 billion project to be viable.

''In the end, the reality is we're going to have to be priced to meet the market,'' he said after speaking to the NBN Industry Connection conference in Brisbane.

''There's no other way of doing it. Why would a customer move from a service they have today to a much more expensive service unless they're getting real value?''

The broadband company will build a wholesale network to deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second to 90 per cent of the population. Retail telcos will buy services for sale to consumers.

Mr Quigley said that if the retail telcos were adding significant value, they would be able to charge higher prices for end users. ''If there's real value-add in terms of services they're not getting today, then we expect a retail service provider would be able to charge more for that added value and hence would be able to have a slighter higher price than wholesale.''

The former Alcatel executive also played down the struggle between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to be the location of the network's headquarters. He said the company, which will have thousands of staff, would have offices in each major city and staff would be encouraged to base themselves in their home city and use video-conferencing facilities.