Prime Minister John Howard has dismissed Telstra's criticism of the competition watchdog as the complaints of a company which hasn't got its way.

Telstra wants to build a new AU$4.1 billion high-speed broadband network but has failed to agree with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on how much it can charge its rivals for access.

In recent days, Telstra has published newspaper advertisements promoting its proposal and urging the public to "Tell the ACCC today to stop saying 'NO' to high-speed broadband".

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel yesterday lashed out at Telstra over the ads and said the telco should reveal precisely what it was proposing.

Howard yesterday appeared unmoved by the ads but said the government would continue to talk to Telstra and to the rival G9 consortium led by Optus which wants to set up its own high-speed broadband network.

"I think what you're witnessing here is the frustration of a company that can't get its own way," he told ABC Radio.

"Companies always attack regulators when they don't get what they want -- that's happened since the beginning of time.

"And I think what the government has got to do is to recognise that, but also to continue talking to Telstra and the other companies."

Telstra spokesman Andrew Maiden yesterday said the company wanted the government to step in if the ACCC refused to allow its proposal to go ahead.

"We want the ACCC to approve our plan to invest AU$4.1 billion and if that doesn't happen we want the government to make it happen," Maiden said.

Samuel said the G9 group would soon publicly release its broadband plan and Telstra should do the same instead of trying to "whip up public anxiety about self-manufactured obstacles in its path".

"What is Telstra seeking to hide? A monopoly designed to beggar the competition?"

Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan also called on Telstra to release more details of its proposal.

"It's time for Telstra to tell consumers about prices they will be charged under Telstra's broadband plan," O'Sullivan said in a statement yesterday.

Maiden dismissed Samuels' remarks as disingenuous, saying the ACCC chief had asked Telstra to keep its talks with the commission private.

"If they have a problem with the process they negotiated, they can't blame anyone but themselves," he said.

"Telstra is not going to enter a beauty contest with the G9's ugly duckling of a proposal."

Treasurer Peter Costello was unconcerned about Telstra and G9's public posturing over each other's proposals.

"Here we have two commercial parties -- Telstra and G9 -- which are advertising ads against each other," Costello told reporters.

"I don't mind seeing that in a competitive economy.

"As far as I'm concerned, however, the most important thing are the consumers and I want to see consumers get the best price possible."