Australia's fast broadband plan viable: govt

CANBERRA May 6 (Reuters) - Australia's planned new highspeed national broadband network remained viable and would cost between A$38 billion and A$43 billion ($34.5 billion to $39 billion), Australia's government said on Thursday.

An independent study of the plan said its assumptions on the cost of the network assumed telecoms giant Telstra Corp (TLS.AX) would not be involved, but recommended the government strike a deal on Telstra involvement to lower the costs. The faster network was a key election promise that helped propel Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to victory in 2007, painting the then-ruling conservatives as telecommunications luddites opposed to infrastructure that would boost national productivity.

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Ed Davies)