Australia regulator may delay Telstra separation plan

Australia's competition regulator voiced objections to the terms of the proposed split of dominant phone company Telstra Corp, threatening to delay an historic reform designed to wire up the entire nation to high-speed broadband.

The news knocked Telstra shares down 2.6 percent at A$2.99, after touching a low of A$2.92, down 4.9 percent. Telstra recently hammered out an agreement to hand over its fixed-line telecoms infrastructure, including cable ducts, to a state-run company for use in the government's $38 billion project to build a high-speed national broadband network. But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Telstra's separation plan could not go ahead in its current form and called for important changes. Analysts said the watchdog's concerns would probably only mean a bump in the road to getting the deal done.