In an article published by the Herald Sun, Fleur Leyden reports that an economic report published by Centre for International Economics claims consumers and the economy would be $897 million worse off if Telstra builds the National Broadband Network.

This and the contention that consumers would pay 15 per cent more for broadband under Telstra are the key messages of the report, commissioned by Telstra's competitors, which was launched at a telco industry seminar in Canberra last week.

But Telstra has hit back at this report, describing it as "a dishonest distortion designed to do nothing but delay the project's tender process" and "it has no basis in fact".

Telstra spokeswoman and wholesale division MD, Kate McKenzie said "This is a completely bogus report that has been bought and paid for by a bunch of desperate competitors who want one thing only - to stop the building of Australia's national broadband network and keep their current cosy arrangements."

The executive summary and its report can be viewed here.