Business investment in research and development jumped 13 per cent in 2008-09 to $16.9 billion, continuing a strong five-year run of growth, according to just-released numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Governor General Quentin Bryce;s administrative arrangements order issued with the swearing in of Ministers confirms the expanded role of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in the coordination of tech sector issues.

Pressure is growing on newly-appointed Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull to deal with the industry reform legislation that will enable the $9 billion Telstra structural separation deal to proceed.  

Malcolm Turnbull's claim that a UN report on broadband had undermined Government's plan for a fibre to the home National Broadband Network was based on a narrow reading of its findings and a misunderstanding of the technology being utilised. That is the response from the office of the communications minister.

A United Nations report on broadband infrastructure recommends that government's remain "technology neutral" in national roll-outs as the most risk averse strategy - a finding Malcolm Turnbull says highlights the Coalition's concerns about the NBN.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says the Snowy Mountains Scheme was given "rigorous analysis and public debate" over several years before construction began, and could not be compared to the National Broadband Network project as Julia Gillard claims.

The competition watchdog is proposing big price cuts for line rental and local calls from the start of 2011, arguing the cost of providing fixed line services has fallen.

The Federal Government has published a statement of requirements for its data centre migration services panel and expects to publish a full request for tender by the end of the month.

With the announcement this week of the Gillard Cabinet and Tony Abbott's shadow ministry, we now know who the players are in what will be a hard-fought battle over the National Broadband Network implementation. But we have still to learn how the game will be played.

Government must urgently publish the financial model it used in developing its National Broadband Network plan so the assumptions on which it is based can be properly debated, newly-appointed Coalition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says.