amigos exagerating difficulties...

so they have too to get a descent regulatory outcome
To sell now is to get sucked into this argy bargy with the tls and the regulator
It is just that.....argy bargy.
I would say that there is a lot of exageration on both sides.
You would need a professional arbitrator to get at the facts. Feel sorry for people selling as a result of this.

Telstra sticks to its guns - until peace breaks out
April 6, 2006

IF TELSTRA'S director of public policy, Phil Burgess, is correct, the company's long-running wrangle with the Federal Government over regulation may be resolved towards the end of the year.

But for now the battle continues. Mr Burgess yesterday blamed "intrusive and onerous" regulation for the slump in Telstra's share price to around $3.70, well below the T2 issue price.

Speaking at the Chartered Secretaries of Australia forum in Melbourne, he said Telstra and its managers were "in this for the long haul and hopefully we can resolve these regulatory issues and get the reforms that are required, not just for Telstra but for the whole industry, this year".

His estimate of a settlement echoes Telstra chief, Sol Trujillo, who last week spoke of "constructive conversations with the [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission], literally as we speak. Hopefully over the next few days or week or two or whatever you will see less rhetoric and more real conversation occurring."

Publicly, Telstra's management looks determined to hold its nerve in its argument with the Minister for Communications, Helen Coonan, and ACCC boss Graeme Samuel over what constitutes fair, reasonable and constructive competition and regulation.

Recently Telstra launched a campaign to persuade its 1.6 million small investors, almost all of whom have lost money on the stock, to use their voter muscle in a battle that has always been more about politics than technology. So far, not much change of heart is evident in Canberra.

"We want [shareholders] to be concerned about regulation - our share value is being destroyed by intrusive and onerous regulation - and we want them to be focused on something different than they would normally be focused on," Mr Burgess said.

Meanwhile, some fund managers appear to be growing a little testy. Yesterday a leading Melbourne boutique fund manager blamed Mr Burgess and Mr Trujillo for the falling share price.

He said they were acting "outrageously" because, while they had "no skin in the game", their campaign was hurting the retirement plans of many ordinary wage earners.

Telstra's response is that, for its long-term health, the company must be sure it can profitably invest shareholders' money in the national network now needed to keep Australia globally competitive.

Regulations as proposed would jeopardise reasonable returns from such an investment, it says.

Mr Burgess told the forum that Telstra was not against politicians, just bad policies.

"If politicians align themselves with a bad policy then they will get some of the shrapnel," he said.