Fresh from the failure of his controversial media reforms the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been accused of misleading parliament about the rollout of the national broadband network.

On Thursday afternoon, while journalists were focused on Labor's leadership spill, the company building the NBN conceded what it had refused to admit two days earlier: its targets were no longer realistic.

Accused: Stephen Conroy. Credit:Andrew Meares

The NBN Co's target of ''passing'' 341,000 homes by the end of June was cut by about a third. The company said only between 190,000 and 220,000 premises would be passed by fibre by then. NBN Co counts as passed premises where cable has been laid in the street but the house or apartment is yet to be connected.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull accused Senator Conroy of using ''Labor's leadership crisis as cover for NBN Co's disclosure of its humiliating failure to reach targets it set itself six months ago''.