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I agree with him. It doesn't matter what the industry is, if the government taketh away they should repay in cash or kind. Whilst at the end of the day the shares may still be worth the same there is the issue of the cost of the breakup. The Commonwealth isn't going to pay for it so that means shareholders will. It comes down to fair compensation for an expense that is beyond the control of the owners.
I agree Mel. Although I have my fun with Sydney and Co, realistically the assets which were inherited by Telstra then sold to investors, now belongs to these investors.
So if the government want these assets, they should negotiate with Telstra's management and come up with a fair amount.
Which is where I believe we are currently at?
If this doesn't occur and the government seize the assets, this is certainly a dangerous precedent, even keeping in mind Telstra's vertically integrated position and how they got there.
Let's hope for once that Telstra decide to deal with the government, instead of pigheadedly fighting and the government don't hold the previous managements ego against the current more human management, for the betterment of all Australians.
Then without all of this uncertainty, the mums and dads shares may start to pick up. Making TLS shares which are currenty too volatile to consider, a bargain hunters (like me) paradise, in a market where most other blue chips have already regained most of their falls.
Problem is that the Network assets are ageing, and all the non-metro Networks (other than the major intercapital links) aren't really making any money - hence the USO to try to prop them up and 'look competitive' - and that just does not wash!
So in this light, the non-metro is making a whopping loss! Now, does that mean that Telstra should pay the Fed Gov (NBN) to get this off their hands?.
The way I see it Telstra has moved on from being an infrastructure provider into being a content provider (because that is where the money is). Telstra could unload all of its network and the thousands of lawyers, its engineers and field staff and concentrate on marketing into the retail market with a real head start because of its very good billing system. This would be a very clean agile business with a small headcount, massive ROI and a very juicy ASX price. And all the problems are off-loaded into the NBN.
I can't let this pass. Telstra has a simply *awful* billing system. It was so much of a disaster that they are replacing it after years of the "new" one barely working. the only winners were the consultants. Bunch of crooks!
person that doesn't know anything about anything making comments and just because you disagree with their point of view you put them down. At no stage did he try and talk about communications; he talked about shares and investments.
Unlike you Mr Smell Some Hamburgers he is not trying to pretend he knows everything about the communications industry.
What does a lawyer like Nicola Roxon now about the health system?
You will find that are large percentage of politicians are lawyers. They also try to avoid metioning it in thier bio. I wonder why
What the hell do you know about Don Argus ?
declaration - I am a Shareholder and one of those to possibly gain from telstra seperation.
With my consumer hat on, i think Don Argus's public viewpoint is a typical "big end of town club's" viewpoint.
the nation needs to be bold on this issue and not allow a few power brokers unduly influence this debate...
- This guy owns Telstra's share.
- One of his companies owns Telstra's share.
- His is a close freind of John Howard.
Enough said.
It's incredible how owning shares of Telstra can be a black mark against your name. Most of the complainants against Telstra seem to think they should be getting the service for free or at a subsidised price. What about Optus? It's integrated in the same manner as Telstra.
If you owned your house and the government said "We want you to split it into two, but you have to pay for it and we wont compensate you." Would you be happy?
Sensible and undeniable truthful comment from Don Argus, Mel and RS.
Thanks Sydney. As I said all along, I don't hate Telstra or their shareholders, per se!
I just don't appreciate coming here or to NWAT putting forward my point of view (which is the purpose of such places) and when critical of Telstra, then being ridiculously set upon by a few Telstra supporters, simply because my ponit of view is different to their's!
So if you guys wish to correspond rationally and with factual "comms" information which isn't just related to TLS shares, great, let's do it. If not that's fine too, as I have quite the repertoire, lol.
Oddly and humorously, I still cop daily servings of "you're a moron", anonymously from Mike, lol... as do a few others...
Another self-serving and disingenuous comment which probably comes attached with another political agenda. Don, this is an essential service (do you get the USO?) it is not selling ice creams. This is either an appallingly ignorant comment or intellectaully dishonest. I leave it to Don to decide which hat he is wearing here.
Whatever you think about Don Argus, the basic principle that a government can walk in and screw a company through legislation that does not include any principle of honesty or integrity is outrageous. I wonder if the legislation as it currently stands is even legal under the Australian constitution. It is certainly in the nature of highway robbery. And before anyone blames John Howard alone, the original proposal to sell Telstra as an integrated company was, I understand, Paul Keeting's government's brainchild
howard was pm when telstra was sold and could have changed the legislation entirely, but chose not to.
What's your point?
My point is that Labor does not come to the table with clean hands anymore than Howard. The bureaucracy that supported development of policy under these governments must also surely be held to blame and yet Telstra shareholders appear to be the only ones paying the consequences for a poorly executed privatisation.
Some bureaucrats and all politicians need to be held to account but the proposed remedy does not do so and instead penalises people who bought the shares. Presumably, the share price paid reflected any benefits to Telstra in being sold as an integrated company. They didn't buy it at a discount, although you may believe otherwise.
i'll say it again, it can't be much clearer. howard was pm when telstra was sold and could have changed the legislation entirely, but chose not to.
i'll go furtherjust to help you. maybe if keating was still pm, after deliberating, he may have sold telstra as two separate companies and offered shareholders a share in each.
howard sold it integrated and it is his fault. had keating sold it that way it would have been his fault, but he didn't.
So? Big deal. Does that excuse the current government's behaviour.
Where's your head?
he blamed keating and when replied to asked what's your point and that the point.
so don't get all excited telstra moron.
Telstra moron? What is that? Is it something that gets inside your head? Have you caught it? Is it like mad cow disease? You sound slightly mad...
walk into your bathroom and look in the mirror. there you will clearly find your answer.
Sorry, it is blackmail, more so than highway robbery
Robert Kennedy without offence, if I have to accept advice from one of two people, I think on past performance I must accept that of Don Argus.
It's only fair to Don Argus to point out that, as the former head of a big bank, he may have a certain view about the rights of customers - which may not be one shared by the customers.
More seriously, while shareholders should be compensated for any loss of value when issued with shares in two companies, the 22 million people who depend on good and fairly priced comms services deserve better than they have been getting.
The government should be commended for fixing the problems created by several previous govts, and which have been richly exploited to our detriment by the incumbent monopolist.
Agree 100% anonymous (@Dont argue indeed - 24/10)
Possibly the best, most concise assumption of the whole situation, I have read.
The same question can be asked of you what do you know about the mining sector or the telecommunications sector for that matter.
Mr Argus was expressing a view that concerns most Telstra shareholders " What happens to their shares and will they be compensated for the balls up that the Government will make of this"
I'm a Telstra shareholder and I bought my shares in good faith believing it had a bright and prosperous future, at no time did I expect Conroy and Co to step in and break up my investments because they aren't happy that Telstra didn't bid on the NBN white elephant and more importantly they need the Telstra Infrastructure.
Maybe instead of everyone beating their gums about Telstra they should look at what the other Telco's have contributed to the Telecommunications network through out this country. Optus, Vodaphone and all the others apart from mobile infrastructure have built no infrastructure in the wired or fibre optic distribution network.
When was the last time you saw an Optus Exchange or Public phone box. Break up Telstra and the wired network will fail. The Government sponsored NBN is just another Government monoply and a means of controlling content.
They should have privatised it as two entities. Allowing a natural monopoly to be created, which a bunch of consultants then creamed for $Billions is plainly not good policy. Howard's mates in big biz have made quite enough profits last decade. As usual it is up to Labour to rebalance and invest in a real TC market.
Liberals seem to like to screw everyone so a very few can make a killing.
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What the hell does Don Argus know about the communications sector?