From
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/...486137175.html


TELSTRA could end up building the $8 billion broadband network federal Labor
has promised to deliver if it wins government.

The chief executive of Telstra, Sol Trujillo, said late last week Telstra
would examine Labor's plan for a public-private partnership with one or more
telcos, in effect a re-nationalisation of the phone network.

Telstra could consider bidding to build the network and open it on a
commercial wholesale basis if Labor wins the election.

Alternatively, Telstra could follow the lead of British Telecom and set up a
separate corporation in which it, the Government and other investors would
share costs and profit.

Mr Trujillo said he did not reject the broad principle of Labor's platform,
but the detail would need to be clarified before committing Telstra or
shareholders' money.

"Building a national network [of the kind Labor proposes] would be many
times more complex [than building the mobile network, Next G]," he said.

The critical issue for Telstra is that it already has a fibre optic network
linking its phone exchanges across Australia. It would be expected to argue
that duplicating or overbuilding part or all of its infrastructure would not
make commercial sense.

Telstra is also likely to expect a Labor government would compensate it for
using some of its existing network.