PEOPLE living in rural and regional areas may have to wait up to eight years for access to high-speed broadband, the federal opposition says.

Tenders for a $10 billion national broadband network close on tomorrow.

But, says opposition communications spokesman Nick Minchin, construction of the network is unlikely to start before this time next year because of commercial, legal and parliamentary negotiations.

That could be bad news for people living outside metropolitan areas and major regional centres, he says.

"Probably eight years according to Telstra that's how long it will take to roll-out Labor's proposal to rural and regional Australia," Senator Minchin told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

"This is really an outrage."

Senator Minchin described as "idiotic" the Rudd government's decision to can the Opel network project, initiated by the previous Howard government.

Wireless broadband would have been rolled out to rural and regional areas, ensuring 99 per cent coverage of all Australians by the middle of next year, he said.