Telstra's John Rolland hangs gloves

John Rolland, a key member of David Moffat's group and a driver behind Telstra's ISP BigPond since the 1990s, has ended his 15-year stint with Telstra.

Rolland, Telstra's executive director of customer solutions management within group managing director David Moffat's Consumer Marketing and Channels group, has handed in his resignation to the telco, according to multiple sources.

The executive is believed to have made the decision prior to the appointment of David Thodey as Telstra's chief.

A Telstra spokesperson declined to comment on Rolland's resignation, or confirm a date for his departure; however, it is believed it was not tied to executive reshuffling related to Telstra's changing of the guard.

Rolland played a critical role in Telstra's online strategy since joining in 1994. He was also a staunch opponent to the Howard Government's plans in 2000 to impose mandatory content filtering requirements on ISPs via an amendment to the ISP Code of Practice.

"We believe [content filtering] is a joke, it cannot be controlled," Rolland said at the time. "They don't ask Australia Post to open every single letter."