Malcolm Turnbull's call for a Productivity Commission cost-benefit study of the National Broadband Network was a waste of money, and Mr Turnbull was unlikely to support the roll-out even if such a report was positive, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says.

Despite the Coalition apparently now supporting the separation of Telstra, as well as most of the consumer safeguard measures that Government is proposing in its industry reform bill, Malcolm Turnbull says there is still a lot to oppose in the legislation.

South Australian balance of power senator Nick Xenophon remains a strong supporter of the Government telecommunications reform objectives - including provisions to structurally separate Telstra - and subject to a closer reading of the bill presented to Parliament yesterday will vote to approve its passage.

With Victoria increasingly seen as the natural home of research related to the National Broadband Network, the State Government has awarded a further $15 million in funding for projects that develop and pilot applications that run on high-speed broadband.

The Australian newspaper was "waging a war" against the National Broadband Network and against the Gillard Government, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has charged.

In an apparent shift from its pre-election position, the federal Opposition says it is generally supportive of proposed telecommunications regulatory reform, and has flatly rejected accusations that it is trying to block progress toward improved broadband services.

At least two-thirds of the National Broadband Network's optical fibre cable in local areas would be deployed underground rather than strung overhead on power poles, NBN Company chief executive Mike Quigley has told a Senate committee.

Telstra has called for the swift passage of telecommunications reforms introduced to Parliament today, legislation that includes provisions for the structural separation of the company.

The Gillard Government's promise to king-making rural independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to make regional areas the roll-out priority for the National Broadband Network would have no impact on NBN Company finances, a Senate committee has been told.

Coalition calls for a full Productivity Commission cost-benefit analysis of the $43 billion National Broadband Network was simply a delaying tactic from an Opposition "determined to wreck" the project, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.