toot toot...sorry shane baby!, page-3

the short story is over. Now it's time for the long story....
Title: Government overrules ACCC recommendation
lgnores Optus' plea for a fair go.

LOL

NB still trading below bookvalue $4.13

Read on.........

5RPT-Telstra sale decision by end-May - report

Friday March 31, 2006, 10:09 am



(Adds dropped words to lead)

MELBOURNE, March 31 (Reuters) - The Australian government will decide by the end of May whether to sell its A$24 billion ($17 billion) stake in telecommunications group Telstra Corp Ltd. (ASX: TLS.ax) , Finance Minister Nick Minchin told The Australian newspaper.

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The deadline for a decision for what would be Australia's biggest-ever share sale was a month later than Minchin outlined in an interview with Reuters in February.

The Australian reported that Minchin was leaning in favour of selling the government's shares in one go, even though Telstra's share price has fallen about 26 percent since July 1 to A$3.74, trading well below the government's book value on the stock at A$4.13.

"We have been wanting to get out of this stock entirely for a very long time, so obviously in an ideal world, we would exit the whole stock," the newspaper quoted Minchin saying.

The government is due to receive a report on Friday from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on why it wants Telstra to cut the prices it charges rivals to access its copper network in cities, regional and rural areas.

The government must decide whether or not to block the competition regulator's ruling, which it could do to help salvage Telstra's share price.

Telstra has warned that it may not pay its planned 28 cents a share annual dividend if regulatory issues are not resolved within a month, saying that regulatory uncertainty would destroy investor interest in the government's sale of Telstra shares.

The company wants to charge a flat A$30 for access to its copper network across all regions, which it says will help it achieve parity in retail pricing between rural and urban customers, which the government wants.

However rivals like Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.'s STEL.SI(ASX: SGT.ax) Australian arm, Optus, say a $30 rate would make it tough for them to offer competitive services in cities. ($1=A$1.40)