Telstra forms task force to negotiate with government

14 April 2009

Telstra, the leading Australian telecom and media company has formed a high-powered taskforce to negotiate with the Australian government over the planned $43- billion national broadband network (NBN) (See: Australian government to set up $30-billion broadband network).  

The taskforce had been formed a few days prior to an announcement last week to provide for continuity in dealings with government beyond chief executive Sol Turjullo's tenure which ends in June.

The group will report to the board and includes chairman Donal McGauchie. Others in the committee include chief financial office John Stanhope, board members Peter Willcox and John Stocker, group managing director of Telstra, David Thodey, group managing director or Telstra enterprise and group managing director of strategic marketing Kate Mckenzie.

The move is being seen as a major departure from the aggressive four-year strategy of McGauchie. Under the new approach the company will formulate plans to voluntarily separate its wholesale and retail arms and also sell some assets to the government's proposed $43-billion broadband network.

The committee will reportedly look into how best to respond to the government's announcement on building the NBN and regulatory amendments that might include Telstra being forced to sell a range of valuable assets.

In a message to staff, Trujillo said that the discussions would clearly be protracted and continue beyond his tenure. He said they had therefore established a joint-board committee capable of conducting negotiations over the months and possibly years.