The search for an NBN Co board running on a tight deadline

The appointing of a board to its National Broadband Network is currently costing the Federal Government almost $3000 every day as it enlists the aid of the headhunting company Egon Zehnder, the firm that found Sol Trujillo’s replacement for Telstra.

It is likely that the government may have already found itself a shortlist of candidates due to the very short timetable of June 4th to June 30th its has set for the search contract.

With indications that the NBN network, which is that largest single project ever undertaken in Australia, is currently falling behind schedule there are increasing pressures for the Labor Government to show that it is making some king of progress.

For the chairman post on the board it is believed that Doug Campbell, the former Telstra executive and Chris Anderson, the adviser to the packer family and former Optus CEO have both been approach by the government.

The broadband industry has also been asked to give their opinions on who they believe to be the most appropriate candidate for position on the board by the government.

In order to realise this latest project by the government there will be a total of between three and seven director on the NBN Co board once it has been chosen.

The country’s top broadband providers Telstra and Optus are like to enter into negotiations with the new board and are likely to throw some of their considerable assets into the building of the NBN.

Based on the finding from the website AusTrader, the contract Egon’s has with the Department of Communications, which will run from June 4th to June 30th will cost around $79 000.

Over 120 submissions were received by the department in response to its review of the telecom regulation, with the structural separation of Telstra’s retail and wholesale arm being the main focus, and it is currently looking at all these submissions.

Source – www.misaustralia.com