Telstra has issued a warning to the Abbott government over its existing infrastructure, following a mass resignation of the NBN board and plans by the government to switch to a fibre-to-the-node network.
“We, as a company … made the decision that for $11 billion we were willing to let the government take over and we would move on to other things. That was based on compensation that [Telstra] agreed to take,” Telstra chief executive David Thodey says.
Thodey also says the company remains agnostic on the question on whether the NBN should deliver a fibre-to-the-premises or fibre-to-the-node network.
“It’s the government’s decision, not mine. I’m moving on. We’ve got to move this company forward, not being pulled back here every four years and to another change … it’s [the government’s] responsibility,” he says.
Online currency processing group OzForex yesterday lodged a prospectus for a $439.4 million IPO at $2 a share.
The company competes against major international banks on price and website efficiency, offering currency exchange and payment services in more than 50 currencies.
“We see plenty of upside in the business. We’ve got lots of great growth opportunities we are pursuing domestically, but also, more importantly, globally, so from our perspective the IPO is the next logical step,” OzForex chief executive Neil Helm says.
Embattled smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed to a $US4.7 billion takeover bid from a consortium led by its biggest shareholder, Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings.
Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is unrelated to the Australian media company, currently owns 10% of the smartphone giant and is seeking financing from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital Markets to complete the deal.
The takeover offer is for $US9 per share, a tiny premium on the $US8.80 the company closed trading at, with many leading analysts remaining doubtful about the prospects of another bidder emerging.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.32% to 15401.38. The Aussie dollar is down to US94.27 cents.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
