Deadline looms for PM's broadband promise

The federal government has 19 days to get very fast broadband to seven million homes and businesses or a three-year-old promise from Malcolm Turnbull will be broken.

Labor has highlighted repeated pledges from the prime minister, then opposition communications spokesman, in the lead up to the 2013 federal election that every Australian would have access to the national broadband network by the end of 2016.

"This was no idle promise. Malcolm Turnbull made this promise explicitly, confidently and frequently prior to the 2013 election," Labor's communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland said on Monday.

She says costs for the broadband rollout have blown out and there's still no way it can meet that promised end-of-year deadline for access for all Australians.

And for those who do have access, it's often failing expectations, Labor says.

Complaints about the NBN to the telecommunications ombudsman have more than doubled over the past year.

"No wonder Australians are fed up with all the deceit of Malcolm Turnbull's fraudband," Ms Rowland said.

"They are simply not getting what they paid for."