With the Opposition playing silly buggers in parliament at the end of last year, it was always going to be a tough ask for Telstra to meet the July 1 deadline of putting the NBN agreement to shareholders. This morning the company confirmed in a statement to the Stock Exchange that the negotiations wouldn’t be completed in time for a vote this financial year.
“A number of matters are yet to be finalized, including some that require government approval,” said the Telstra statement. The Telco requires the shareholder vote to approve the $11 billion deal with NBN Co for the handover of their wholesale arm.
While the delay shouldn’t hinder the deal significantly, it will inevitably cause some delays to the NBN rollout. But given that the rollout is going to take the better part of this decade anyway, it’s unlikely to pose a significant problem.