The uproar sparked by the unfettered installation of unsightly aerial pay TV cables in the 1990s was the catalyst for the formation of lobby group Sydney Cables Down Under and others like it.

This group now has a new fight on its hands with the Rudd Government in cahoots with the Rees Government moving to override the concerns of residents and NSW's 152 councils to roll out aerial cables as part of the proposed national broadband network.

Despite planning to spend $43 billion on its half-baked "Ruddnet" plan, federal Labor is looking at ways to minimise time and to cut costs.

Optus estimates that if 100 per cent of the network's cables are deployed underground, as I am sure most taxpayers will quite reasonably expect, the network would cost $60 billion.

These figures give weight to the strong suspicion that the project's costings, which are little more than guesstimates, are based on a national network involving up to 70 per cent of the cables being strung between power poles.