Some good points there Chagsy. HTA, who hold 50% of VHA (Vodafone Hutchison Australia) held their AGM today. I've posted a straw about their Chairman's Address and his comments on the VHA-TPG merger here: https://strawman.com/member/company/straws/HTA You'll have to copy and paste, or else just type HTA into the companies tab and look for the straw. Replies to forum posts here don't allow imbedded links at this point in time.

If that link above doesn't work - try cutting and pasting this one: https://www.ausbiz.com.au/media/the-call-tuesday-5th-may?videoId=841&sectionId=1900&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTm1Ga09UQTJOMkU1WXpZMSIsInQiOiJGbGR6NHBaUzNzZGI5TWxYT2pmTTZcL2xvdjhWNlNheFk2akczTURKR0JCNW5oeStWQ2FVNmRcLzRjQlBpaGlUMElxUnJBNVJ3c1hFcjhZNmRuckg2cENVZEdaSjhBckVKOUFuMHk4N3ZNSDJMeFN1cUMzNXNpYlQxc01raW1XSW91In0%3D That one is from Clime. It's longer, but it might get around the "login" wall.

Regarding TPG, I believe that David Teoh pulled the pin on their 5G mobile network rollout quite early because they believed they would win the appeal against the ACCC and be able to merge with Vodafone. Vodafone already have a mobile network in place that just needs to be expanded and updated to become 5G compatible. Teoh used the Huawei ban as his excuse, but it was really about nullifying the ACCC's argument that a merger between TPG and Vodafone would mean one LESS mobile network in Australia and therefore less competition. Teoh positioned TPG so that if the TPG-Vodafone merger did NOT go through, TPG would NOT have a mobile network and therefore there would be LESS competition - as TPG were not a full service provider (without a mobile network) that could properly compete head-to-head with TLS, and Vodafone really ONLY had their mobile network, so the same argument applied to them. The courts agreed with Teoh and overturned the ACCC decision - and the ACCC have agreed not to appeal. I'm not sure if TPG can claim compensation for the Huawei equipment they had already purchased and could not return before the government's ban, but I'm reasonably confident that Teoh had a plan with regard to that. The main point here however is that the TPG mobile roll-out has not been a disaster. It has actually been a good move for him to pull up and stop the rollout as early as he did. TPG now get full use of the Vodafone mobile network, and just as TLS and Optus have had to do, TPG now just need to upgrade that existing network to 5G. Obviously, TPG will also expand the Vodafone mobile network, which was the least extensive and comprehensive of the 3 existing Australian mobile phone networks. My personal preference is to invest in TPG rather than Telstra. What Teoh has managed to do WITHOUT a mobile network over the past decade has been impressive, and now WITH a mobile network, I think Telstra are in for some SERIOUS competition - and I think that view (apparently shared by the market) is reflected in the TLS share price. Telstra still have a serious image issue to overcome, in that they are (rightly) viewed as providing very poor customer service for the most part, especially to businesses. As the incumbent ex-monopoly provider, I think they have everything to lose, and will be struggling to register any significant gains. It's just really hard to turn around a ship that big. They have culture issues, greatly reduced revenue without those huge nbn-compensation-payments coming in (the payments they received for handing over their below-ground infrastructure to the nbn) and there is a low barrier to entry for nbn-service-providers who can nip at their heels while TPG and Optus are competing against them on the full-service bundled deal side. Vocus are also now quite a large presence and there are a couple more smaller companies still coming up through the ranks, as well as niche-specialists like Macquarie Telecom (MAQ) and Uniti Group (UWL) who will also grow bigger and stronger over time. Telstra has an image problem, and there are few reasons for customers to either stay with them or switch back to them - except for price, and there will always be companies prepared to undercut them on price, even if it means losing money for a sustained period. That's what Uber has been doing - becoming the dominant player in the geographies that matter most to them, and they were prepared to lose money for many years to achieve that. Once they start making money, which according to Steve Johnson from Forager Funds is not too far away - in the next year or two - then they clean up. Jeff Bezos has had a similar plan with Amazon - becoming the dominant player being far more important than actually making money, because the money will come later, and LOTS OF IT! With Uber and Amazon it's about network effects and that self reinforcing feedback loop. Telstra are the mature version of that. They had the ONLY network. They were the monopoly provider. Then the government legislated to force competition, including forcing Telstra to host competitors on their own network, and then they were privatised. They were then forced to sell a lot of their own infrastructure to the nbn. From what I have read, they have not dealt with these massive changes well - as far as being quick, innovative, customer-focussed, having a positive can-do culture, etc. They are like the grumpy old man who keeps complaining about how fast the world is changing around him. Telstra also have a size issue. They aren't allowed to buy up competitors here in Australia (the ACCC won't let them). There is little point in making small acquisitions in adjacent or different technologies because Telstra are so big that small acquisitions won't even cause a blip on their earnings radar. They have been forced in the past to look overseas for growth, and those forays have not ended well for them. All things considered, I don't like TLS as an investment, I think they are somewhat hamstrung in what they can do, and they don't seem to have the will to invest significantly enough in vastly improved customer service, which is pretty much the main thing they NEED to do. I've been wrong about them before, over certain time frames. In other words, there have been times that I've avoided them during which their share price has actually performed quite well. However, I'm more than happy to avoid them once again now that the TPG-Vodafone merger is back on. That's my view anyway, for what it's worth.

Thanks for the detailed response Bear, I always value your insight.