Congratulations Phil on your most eloquent account of Telstra breaking free from the Howard leash to become a proud Australian iconic corporation. Sadly though, we are not out of the woods yet but here's hoping that Kevin Rudd will use his Education Revolution to propel FTTN so that this happy conclusion will feature in your forthcoming book. Au revoir

Not only was Father Phil's interview compelling but for some it will sound like just more spin and perhaps a little patronising. The Australian ear is very sensitive to this tone of speech, especially when we hear talk of experts in their field needing to be re-educated. It's great to drive the point home that Telstra is a private company now and that the game has changed, but it is then disingenuous to consistently portray that Telstra knows best for the nation.

Achieving real competition in what was a monopoly market is not straight-forward, and recent and record commercial successes tell us its still tough for the Optus/Poptuses. There's no doubt Telstra has done a fantastic job with Next G and is again winning market share in most segments. It is then not unrealistic too ask whether competition is now on the decline again, and that the significant barriers to market entry at the network level are still too high.

Telstra has a well-deserved reputation as a premium supplier but it also unquestionably expensive. Those who heard the interview are still waiting for the Telstra response to the question that if Telstra is looking after the 2 million Mum and Dad investors, then who is looking after the long-term interests of the other 18 million Australians. My sense is that the community wants more balance in company announcements, because a couple of casualities of 're-education' are truth and trust.

Trevor, as one of the 2 million investors may I acquaint you with a few fact of life. The Commonwealth bank, Qantas, CSL Limited and others paid their dues and were free to set sail into the risky world of commerce. What gives you the impression that Telstra shareholders are indebted to the 18 million Australians. Albeit, since privatisation in addition to the 60 billion dollars paid into the community chest, Telstra spent billions of dollars upgrading the networks to the benefit of all Australians whilst our investment dollars were under water for the best part of a decade. In fact, until very recently Telstra had to borrow funds to pay dividends in order to offset the erosion of our capital. You should also be aware that the Future Fund currently derives above average earnings from the stash of Telstra shares it sill holds which also benefits Australians. You are entitled to your opinion, why be critical of his.

Phil it is to be hoped that the Rudd Australian Government listens and learns from your interview. As an Australian I would have hoped that my Government would have made more use of your exceptional visionary knowledge while you were in Australia. Look forward to your book.

I work for Telstra as a nothing non evert customer service consultant. I'm one of those that the public ring to abuse - not all of them. I'm the one comedians make fun of. Let's knock down the big guy because that's what the culture in this country is all about. I'm all for the the underdog but OPTUS wanted 1 billion dollars from the previous Govt, which is the same govt that decided it was better to sell Telstra rather than keep it. Economists tell us Governments shold not be in enterprise because they are inefficient. So why give a private company public money to help create competition? Governments are suppose to legislate to allow competition to thrive, not donate money to make it happen. That was an interesting question that Fran asked, "what about the other 18 mill"? The other 18 mill should be asking what is the competition doing to invest in Australia instead of piggy backing on Telstra's infrustructure. Telstra was sold to me "lock,stock & barrell" with quite a few conditions. I'm sick of the conditions. I'm sick of the other 18 mill asking me to cough up more dough in areas that are uneconomic. After all the so called "competitors" in the industry are not investing in "uneconomic areas either. And why not? Cause they don't have to. Do you see QANTAS flying to all regional points in Australia? Do you see the Commonwealth Bank in all towns in Australia? Enough with the easy way. Either the government buys back my shares and gets back into Telecommunication or they go for a walk and let the industry "market forces" deal with this issue. Just like the public are dealing with "market forces" for petrol, airline tickets and dare I say it bank charges. Competition my rear end. Hawke, Keating, Howard, et al have a lot to answer for this huge stuff up.

John, I agree with... "Keating, Howard, et al have a lot to answer for this huge stuff up." Let us hope that Rudd does not become a contributor the the perennial stuff up. Enjoy your your and at Telstra's front-line, we depend on how you guys and dolls react.

Vasso I agree with you that Telstra is not indebted to all Australians - its been sold and you have an interest in a piece of it. Without sustainable competition though what's to stop Telstra from screwing the nation over. Hypothetically, how would you guarantee reasonable airfares if Qantas owned Austalia'a airport network? ... that's a fair comparison and that's when a regulator might step in. Mr Quilty's statement today that the NBN would be an open access network will be reassuring to a body that does have economic growth in mind but importantly no profit line of its own - the ACCC.

Trevor, David also stated that "This is a critical promise and we fully expect it to be enshrined in law and to be policed by the ACCC – and we have no difficulty with these protections." It is pleasing to note that you prime concern is the national interest. So is mine. The Federal Government has announced the 13 confirmed bidders for the FTTN project have until November 26 to submit their proposals. The Panel of Experts will no doubt, pare the group to three serious contenders but the reality is that TERRiA has no track record of building anything approaching this value and Optus parent, SingTel is clearly not capable of deploying their own infrastructure and rely on a foreign company to build it for them. This puts Telstra at a distinct advantage and, as a shareholder, I trust that the company will, as usual, do the right thing.