Prime minister, Julia Gillard, announced the launch of the three year plan, which pinpoints the communities across Australia which will be connected or in the process of being connected to the NBN by mid-2015.

[ In pictures: NBN 3-year roll-out plan announced ]

"We are announcing today that more than 3.5 million homes, businesses, schools and hospitals will be getting access to the NBN in the next three years," she said at a press conference in Sydney.

According to Gillard, more than one million premises in NSW will be connected, 700,000 in Victoria, 680,000 in Queensland, 430,000 in Western Australia, 330,000 in South Australia, 65,000 in the Northern Territory and over 200,000 in Tasmania.

"This three-year plan covers about one third of all the homes and businesses across our nation," she said. "It's going to be a fundamental change to regional and suburban economies."