"We must move to drag Australia into the world of modern communications," said Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) president, Councillor Geoff Lake, in reference to a damning review of the broadband situation in the Association’s latest State of the Regions (SoR) report.

"Last year's report identified $3.2 billion and 33,000 jobs lost to Australian businesses in 12 months due to inadequate broadband infrastructure. The current report indicates no improvement in these numbers for 2009."

Peter Hyland, a consultant with National Economics who prepared the telecommunications section of the SoR report, said broadband infrastructure is not the only ingredient necessary for improved prosperity in the regions, "but it is an essential part of the toolkit".

In the absence of cost-effective, reliable broadband, Mr Hyland said, regional businesses caught by changing circumstances, including the financial crisis and drought, can't readily use the internet to boost their business or change their business model altogether, forcing them to move to areas with better services.

"If young people want to move to a rural or regional area for lifestyle reasons, lack of broadband can constrain their choices. If you work as a designer, publisher or film maker, for instance, you would find it difficult to operate in some areas."

The high-speed wireless broadband offered by Telstra’s Next G network is not a substitute for a more cost-effective terrestial network, he added.

Mr Hyland and Cr Lake applauded the Rudd Government’s National Broadband Network (NBN) strategy, but said in order to deliver communications equity government had to, in Cr Lake’s words, "move now and move faster" on the NBN process.

But in Canberra, the Senate Select Committee on the National Broadband Network has been scrutinising the NBN, and so far found only a good idea with no real substance.

"The government is unable to say who will get what, when, for how much and on what basis," said the committee's chair, South Australian Liberals Senator Mary Jo Fisher.

Nor has any cost-benefit analysis of the NBN been undertaken.

Senator Fisher claims the lack of such analysis explains why Senator Conroy will not promise that the NBN will deliver cheaper broadband than existing services.