Though plans to scrap the National Broadband Network (NBN) under a Coalition Government are thought to appease Telstra's 1.6 million shareholders, Australian Greens senator, Scott Ludlam, said it was chasing after the wrong constituency.
Varied Coalition politicians - including Liberal leader, Tony Abbott, Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, and Shadow communications minister, Tony Smith - have repeated on several occasions that, should the Coalition win Government on August 21, it would scrap the "reckless" NBN.
Though it is yet to outline an alternative broadband policy, sources close to the matter say the party will reintroduce aspects of the terminated OPEL project while also committing to a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network, most likely using major aspects of Telstra's existing fibre network. The alternative plan, yet to be officially announced, is expected to cost significantly less than the Gillard Government's $43 billion NBN.
Plans to scrap the NBN are also believed to be a play on the assumed concerns of Telstra shareholders, who would see the telco relinquish its copper infrastructure and be structurally separated in return for $11 billion as part of a non-binding Financial Heads of Agreement signed with NBN Co in June.
However, Ludlam told Computerworld Australia that a lobby campaign from Telstra shareholders against discussions between the telco and the government had effectively stopped sending emails since the heads of agreement was announced.
"There was something of an organised campaign. We were getting correspondence from Telstra shareholders over the last eight months or so, very concerned that the government wanted to disaggregate Telstra and bring half of it back into the public domain," he said. "Those emails have stopped.
"I think those shareholders have realised that if those negotiations continue constructively, they're going to have a pre-eminent seat at the table as this industry expands quite rapidly."
Telstra was discovered to have instructed shareholders to lobby against the Federal Government in 2007 over regulation of the telco, including calling talkback radio to complain.
"We want our shareholders certainly to become aware of the problems that we face and then get on board in terms of lobbying MPs, speaking out to people, in an effort to try to change the climate so we can actually invest," Telstra spokesman, Rod Bruem, told ABC at the time.
Ludlam said shareholder concerns, according to the received correspondence, centred around the lack of clarity in the discussions being held between Telstra and the government during the lead-up to the agreement's announcement. However, the first trading day after the announcement saw Telstra's share prices rise by four per cent, with some analysts claiming the deal could be worth up to $24 billion in net value.
The agreement remains non-binding, with Telstra shareholders set to see full details and given the chance to vote on the deal early next year. Should they approve, and the deal pass the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Telstra would be given $9 billion to migrate its copper and cable-based broadband customers over to the NBN, and to progressively rip up its ageing copper network. The government would also provide an additional $2 billion to help retrain Telstra staff and to relinquish the telco of its universal service obligations.
Telstra has not revealed how it plans to utilise that cost.
"If the negotiations are concluded in good faith, Telstra is going to be better off, and NBN Co will be better off," Ludlam said. "And we have to pay mind not just to shareholders in one particular company but the entire Australian electorate.
"I don't understand who the Coalition thinks their constituents are, but I don't think they've played a constructive role so far."