THE average Australian household stands to reap $3800 a year from access to superfast broadband by 2020, new research to be released by Labor today shows.
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Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be in Launceston today spruiking the benefits of the National Broadband Network and warning the Liberal Party will halt the rollout in Tasmania.
He will launch the results of a Deloitte Access Economics study analysing the financial and practical impacts of being connected to high-speed broadband in a digital economy.
The study looked at 10 different scenarios, from an unemployed student to a single-income couple with two children, and attempted to quantify the benefits of the NBN such as improved communications, e-commerce, online services, employment, increased productivity and travel savings.
The report found evidence that households in difficult circumstances such as needing to find employment, move or return to study, stood to gain the most.
``This could suggest that broadband has the potential to play a role in improving opportunities for those in society facing disadvantage,'' the report stated.
It also found the technology will open up opportunities for people in regional areas to participate in the digital economy.
Selling the national broadband network has been a key plank of Labor's push in Tasmania where the rollout is most advanced.
``It is a broadband network that serves our needs now and for decades to come,'' Mr Albanese said.
Labor has repeatedly warned the rollout will cease if a Coalition government is elected dividing the state of ``broadband haves and have-nots''.
The Liberal Party has repeatedly dismissed Labor's attacks with Liberal communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull confirming a Coalition government would honour all existing contracts.
As NBN Co has already signed off on contracts for the full Tasmanian installation, the original plan should not be affected by who wins on Saturday.