In a major backflip the federal government has announced a dramatically increased number of towns in the Shoalhaven will get the National Broadband network fibre optic cable.

Gilmore MP Jo Gash says the initial plan was to roll  the NBN into any town with more than a thousand people, then the rules changed and the town had to have more than a thousand homes.

Now the office of Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has released a list of more than 20 Shoalhaven towns and villages, where fibre optic cable will be rolled out.

Towns with less than a thousand homes to get the NBN include Berrima, Exeter, Bargo, Bundanoon, Marulan, and Yerrinbool.

One area not included on the list is Kangaroo Valley

The full list of areas to get the NBN …… Bargo, Bowral, Berrima, Bundanoon, Exeter, Marulan, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Robertson and Yerrinbool