The Australian government said Tuesday it wants Telstra, that nation’s largest telecommunications company, to agree to separate structurally its wholesale and retail arms as Canberra prepares to build a new A$43bn (US$37bn) high-speed national broadband network, The Wall Street Journal reports.
If the group doesn’t agree to structurally separate its businesses, Canberra will impose a “strong functional separation” framework on the company.
“It is the government’s clear desire for Telstra to structurally separate, on a voluntary and cooperative basis,” communications minister Stephen Conroy said in a statement. “Telstra is one of the most highly integrated telecommunications companies in the world across the fixed-line copper, cable and mobile platforms,” Conroy said.