Telstra quiet on NBN legal action

TELSTRA has not ruled out seeking legal action over its exclusion from the bidding process to build a $15 billion national broadband network

In an analysts' call this morning Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo said the telco would reserve its right to pursue its legal options in the future. "We reserve our rights regarding future action, yet it's too early to rule anything in or out and we remain hopeful that sense will prevail outside the RFP process at a later date. But if not, and let me be clear, we have plenty of options and we will continue to act in the interests of our shareholders, customers and employees," Mr Trujillo said.

Mr Trujillo denied Telstra's high stakes gamble with the Government and its defiance to follow the RFP's requirements had backfired on the telco. "We have to make decisions on what is in the best interests of our shareholders and we will not do things that are highly dilutive to our shareholders so the approaches we have taken are very protective," he said.

Although Telstra's Mexican standoff with the Government may have failed, it didn't stop Mr Trujillo from firing some parting shots at the Communications Minister's department.

"The Department has a long history of failing to deliver on new infrastructure," Mr Trujillo said. "Three and a half years and counting on NBN including an RFP process running six months behind schedule and still counting, the minister's original pre-election plan and then there's OPEL and all the other piecemeal initiatives over the years."

Bidders for the $15 billion broadband network were to begin presenting their bids in front of the Government's eight-person expert panel at the weekend.

But Mr Trujillo said Telstra never got its chance to front the panel. "The answer is no, we never presented to the Panel. We just received notification last night that we were out," he said.

The panel, chaired by Communications Department secretary Patricia Scott, was to take initial presentations from the bidders in Canberra on Sunday and today. The panel has eight weeks from the close of tenders on November 26 to make recommendations on who should be handed the job of building the network, into which taxpayers will invest $4.7 billion.

The other bidders include Singtel Optus, Melbourne-based Acacia, Canadian group Axia, the Tasmanian Government and Canberra utility group TransAct.

Click here for full coverage of the national broadband network by The Australian newspaper.