John Howard wants high speed broadband to every home in Australia, and he want's to promise it as early as next week. But the PM needs a commitment form Telstra, who do not seem to want to play along.

Both parties are at a stalemate, as Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo allegedly said he would cancel plans for $4.5 billion high speed infrastructure rollout if the Government did not make a decision by the end of next month.

This isn't the first time Telstra have used their considerable muscle threaten the future of high speed internet in Australia.

Telstra says it will charge $59 a month to its rivals for access to a basic service, with what is still considered the lower end of broadband at 512kpbs, which is only 1% of the proposed speeds the new fibre network can handle.

Consumers who want faster speeds will force a price hike, and Telstra have plans to discontinue their $59 per month price after 2 years.

But if Howard and Telstra do see eye to eye, it will signal a significant change to internet services around the country.

Source.