Like many, I expected Telstra's dismissal was inevitable, given that it had openly flouted the NBN's guidelines and attempted to bend the process to its own wishes. But who would have expected it so soon?
In space, they say, no one can hear you scream. I can
only wonder whether the walls of Telstra's boardroom provided equal
coverage for the noises that must have been emanating from it after
yesterday's bombshell announcement that the telco had been kicked out
of the running to build the National Broadband Network.
These very optimistic gentlemen still think the government will realise the error of its ways and come crawling back. Not very likely.
Like many, I expected Telstra's dismissal was inevitable, given
that it had openly flouted the NBN's guidelines and attempted to
bend the process to its own wishes. But who would have expected it
so soon?
And, no less, on such an apparent technicality: the
tender's expert panel didn't even end up having to consider the
implications of Telstra's non-compliant NBN bid, which at just
over a dozen pages apparently didn't offer enough space to include
the required SME plans.
Telstra was quick to bag technicalities, but it had no problem
relying on them in its relentless campaigns against the previous
government's Opel bid. That it would then engage in such a
high-stakes game of chicken, intentionally flouting the rules,
seems, well, surprising. At any rate, it's the day after the
announcement, and Telstra's board is probably in meltdown — or,
denial, as seemed to be the case when at 9:12am journalists
received an invitation to the hastily assembled 9:15am conference
call with CEO Sol Trujillo, CFO John Stanhope, and group general
counsel Will Irving.
Chairman Donald McGauchie was not present, presumably because he
was busy either repeatedly beating his head against a wall or
writing a long apology to the government (that's
p-r-e-t-t-y-p-l-e-a-s-e, Don, and I hear Minister Conroy likes
cherry-flavoured candy canes).
The presence of Telstra's head
lawyer confirms the company is now in defensive mode, mindful no
doubt of the potential shareholder backlash for its disastrous
decision-making. It's also a signal that Telstra will explore
every possible avenue of redress, which everyone now agrees is
certain to include litigation against the mean, nasty, biased, cruel government.
This is the sort of thing that gets senior executives sued in
other countries. Whether or not it escalates to the point where
shareholders forcibly eject Trujillo and others, I cannot now say,
but things are guaranteed to get interesting either way. Here are a
few relevant excerpts from the conference:
Trujillo, asked about Telstra's regional strategy (which I
discussed last week):
"We already have deployed ... ADSL2+ to a very significant portion of
Australia, so a build in the regions would have to offer something
more and better to a relatively small percentage of the remaining
[population]. The strategy of building into the cities from the
regions, in our view, is a competitor tactic of trying to protect
their DSLAM investments in the cities, and using government money
to basically supplement the capital they would not risk for the
capital from their own shareholders."
Stanhope, asked how much money Telstra had spent preparing its
NBN bid over two years: "I haven't really added it up, to be
honest; it has been fairly small. We do have a high technical
capability ... and the engineering skills to put a good plan
together, and we believe it's a very good plan. That work is not
wasted, hopefully, because we think we're the only ones who can do
[the NBN]."
Irving, asked whether the government could override the expert
group's decision to eject Telstra: "This is a request for
proposal process rather than a tender ... the government has the power
under the process, if it wanted to have Telstra in the process, to
keep Telstra in the process. Even if you take their view of the way
they say the RFP has been worded, they could still have us there."
(cf my allusion to Forgetting Sarah Marshall a fortnight ago)
Trujillo piped in at the end, repeating what seems to have
become a hopeful mantra amongst the unrepentant executives: "The
outcome here is not over," he said, "at least as we think about
it in terms of the options that the minister and ultimately the
Prime Minister and Cabinet have, in terms of how they choose to go
forward. I'm sure the panel and staff have decided they want to
explore in more detail whatever options they think are alternatives
to Telstra, and they can do that."
These very optimistic gentlemen still think the government will
realise the error of its ways and come crawling back. Not very
likely: later in the day, even Conroy wasted no time putting the
boot in: "Telstra's board will have to explain to its
shareholders why it has decided to sideline itself from a process
that will shape the Australian communications sector for the next
decade," was one of the choice bits in his media release.
You get the feeling he had just been waiting to let loose on
Telstra; now that the company is out of the NBN, he can do it.
The implications of this decision are, of course, tremendous and
the game is far from over: observers seem to agree that Telstra's role in the NBN will go from unilateral agitator to
ongoing pain in the backside for whoever wins the bid. What effect
this has, well ...
(Credit: Hyperion Books for Children)
In the meantime, I am reminded of a scene from Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer's fantastic story of a 12-year-old who captures a fairy
police officer and holds her for ransom — then finds himself
confronting her without bodyguard Butler when his elaborate plan
goes pear-shaped:
"At the risk of sounding clichéd, I've been expecting
you."
Holly didn't respond, didn't even look her jailer in the
eye.
"So, basically, our situation hasn't changed. You are still my
hostage."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," muttered Holly, running her fingers over
the rows of confiscated [fairy] equipment...
Fowl interrupted again. "It's not polite, you know, ignoring
your host."
Holly snarled. "Enough is enough."
She pulled back her fist, fingers curled in a tight bunch.
Artemis didn't flinch. Why would he? Butler always intervened
before punches landed. But then something caught his eye, a large
figure running down the stairway on the first-floor monitor. It was
Butler.
"That's right, rich boy," said Holly nastily. "You're on your
own this time."
And before Artemis' eyes had time to widen, Holly put an extra
few kilos of spring in her elbow and whacked her abductor right on
the nose. "Oof," he said, collapsing on to his rear end ... "You hit
me," he said in disbelief.
Holly strapped on a set of [wings]. "That's right, Fowl. And
there's plenty more where that came from. So stay right where you
are, if you know what's good for you."
For once in his life, Artemis realised that he didn't have a
snappy answer. He opened his mouth, waiting for his brain to supply
the customary pithy comeback. But nothing arrived...
"That's right ... playtime's over [said Holly]. Time for the
professionals to take over. If you're a good boy I'll buy you a
lolly when I come back."
And when Holly was long gone, Artemis said, "I don't like
lollipops." It was a woefully inadequate response, and Artemis was
instantly appalled with himself. No self-respecting criminal
mastermind would be caught dead even using the word lollipops.
Join Discussion