Independent senator Nick Xenophon over the weekend said he backed a structural separation of communication giant Telstra as long as regional Australia got a fair deal.
Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope has said, subject to three key conditions, structural separation could benefit shareholders.
The federal government will have to rely on the support of the entire Senate crossbench if it wants parliament to approve its plan to restructure Telstra before the end of the year.
Despite icing a 2002 plan to pursue Telstra's structural separation due to concerns Labor had for its private shareholders, Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner today said its current position was no different.
The Coalition's attempt to delay the government's telecommunications reform package hangs in the balance as independents Steven Fielding and Nick Xenophon wait to meet with Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Virtually everyone in the telecommunications industry has their say in the Senate Standing Committee's public hearing into the pending legislation to split up Telstra, in this week's Twisted Wire podcast.
As Telstra CEO David Thodey and CFO John Stanhope fronted a mob of concerned investors at the company's Investor Day this week, it became clear just how far removed the Telstra of today is compared to the Telstra of a year ago.
How can the UK experience of BT's separation inform our understanding of Telstra's future? In this week's Twisted Wire podcast, we talked to the key UK players to get the lay of the land.
Labor's fibre-to-the-premises NBN was meant to be an act of freedom, a breaking-free from 100 years of copper infrastructure legacy and the start of something new. So why in the world are we still discussing Telstra's copper network?
Getting Senator Stephen Conroy's regulatory reform for the telecommunications industry through the parliament would need support from the Senate. On Twisted Wire we ring around to see which parties are supportive and which are against.
This afternoon Communications Minister Stephen Conroy described his opposite, Senator Nick Minchin, as a Luddite as he took questions from reporters on the Opposition's attempt to block the government's wide-ranging telecommunications industry reform legislation, which includes provisions to force the break-up of Telstra.
The proposed regulatory reforms ahead of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network rely on a finely balanced carrot and stick approach. But will Telstra cooperate with the government's ultimatum?
The story of how Telstra lost its network is one of hubris and bungling, of misreading the play in Australia by men from the US who thought they knew everything already. Shareholders should never forget this.
NBN Company executive chairman Mike Quigley and six other board members to be named this week have a series of straightforward "buy or build" decisions to make about Australia's fibre future.
A simple way forward for the National Broadband Network and for Telstra has now emerged.
Telstra shareholders fear break up
What do Telstra shareholders think of the telco's new CEO David Thodey? And would they support the government'… Watch it now
The Change Program changes its Agenda
What happens when you change the agenda of the ATO's Change Program, or program in some changes to the Agenda?… Watch it now
Microsoft's Tracey Fellows on Windows 7
After the launch of Windows 7 last week, ZDNet.com.au spoke briefly with Microsoft Australia and New Zealand M… Watch it now
Has New Zealand's smiling assassin delivered?
The long-awaited separation of Telstra
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