By RACHEL PANNETT
![[SB10001424052748703977004575392593925589942]](https://inphotonicsresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/OB-JJ718_ozplay_D_20100728004250.jpg "Key Players")
Read more about key players in Australia's upcoming elections.
CANBERRA—Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Friday unveiled an expanded footprint for a planned national high-speed fiber Internet network that will now reach 93% of homes and businesses, up from 90% previously.
The network is a defining policy for Gillard’s ruling center-left Labor government ahead of an Aug. 21 general election.
But the program isn’t universally loved, even though it is popular with many voters. Australia’s main conservative Liberal-National opposition coalition has questioned the need for such an expensive service and has threatened to scrap the plan if it returns to power.