BRISBANE (AAP)

Australians need to mobilise and demand high-speed internet from a federal government refusing to allow Australia to enter the 21st century, Telstra says.Telstra public policy and communication general manager Phil Burgess told AAP the "disgusting" lack of high-speed services in Australia was due to the federal government's nonsensical regulations demanding it could only be rolled out if there were two or more providers to ensure competition.

Dr Burgess said Telstra had committed $4.1 billion to rolling out high-speed broadband to the five major cities but had been stopped by the government.He said in Brisbane alone more than 20 exchanges could be turned on Friday, bringing 20MB high-speed broadband to more than 100,000 people but the government would not give the telco the green light.

He said Telstra was being "held hostage" to Optus and other foreign-owned companies until they decided to bring in broadband."We're at the bottom of the OECD list - the list of developed nations - in the penetration of broadband and we need to be at the top," Dr Burgess said.He said broadband was necessary for education, business, and medical services.For example, it would allow better access to health care for rural residents who could have tests such as mammograms sent to city hospitals for the best analysis.

He said it was hoped "growing disgust" from the public regarding their inability to access broadband would force the federal government to act in an election year."We want to mobilise our shareholders, consumers and the general public as well as influential groups like the Royal Flying Doctors and the Local Government Association and others to make sure that Queensland and the rest of Australia has the broadband they deserve and need to compete in this century," he said."Broadband is the future."If you don't have broadband you're not going to be able to compete, you're not going to be able to create good jobs and good wages."Broadband is the key to productivity growth, jobs and development in this decade."

Dr Burgess will address the Queensland Media Club later on Thursday.A spokesperson for Communications Minister Helen Coonan said Dr Burgess's comments were more about protecting Telstra's profits than the future of broadband."This is about Telstra's bottom line - not broadband," the spokeswoman said."Dressing up this campaign as a benevolent act on behalf of consumers is downright misleading."

The spokesperson said the government was investing more than $1.1 billion in broadband and phone coverage through the Connect Australia package."A better use of Telstra's time and resources would be to put consumers first and connect ADSL 2+ fast broadband in the 1,000 remaining exchanges across Australia," the spokesperson said. (01/03/2007 12:30:35 PM)