The announcement that the NBN would deliver fibre to the premises was received warmly in most quarters .

And while there's been criticism from the opposition and some cross-benchers, support for the proposal outside Parliament is continuing to flow.

SAGE-AU, the professional organisation representing system administrators in Australia, says the NBN will bring Australian telecommunications into the 21st century.

"We commend the Government's objectives of creating a world-leading broadband infrastructure, an innovative telecommunications sector and bringing healthy competition to a sector sorely lacking in it," said SAGE-AU president Donna Ashelford.

Benefits anticipated by SAGE-AU include job creation, better services to businesses and individuals, and a clear separation between the network’s wholesale infrastructure and retail service providers.