Terria bites back at Telstra�s monopolist accusations

to defend why Telstra was making such high EBITDA margins. The rest of the world is saying 'how come you are making such high EBITDA margins? Is that a future problem for Telstra from an investor's perspective?' Because it can't go on forever, eventually competition has got to emerge because no one else in the world is making those margins."

In response to Telstra's accusations of Terria's anti-competitive intentions, Simmons insists Terria's bid is "100 percent" committed to open access competition.

He questioned Telstra's commitment to competition as it is seeking a reduced role in regulating NBN access for the ACCC -- which even by its own admission has been inadequate in maintaining effective telecommunications competition until now - and the ability to experiment and set prices based on value rather than cost.

"We have a real, viable and substantial bid, and the bottom line is it is competitive...Our position is independence of the network owner from access seekers, that way you get multiple access seekers competing and you have regulation of the ACCC to ensure the pricing for that monopoly asset doesn't reflect its monopoly position. Our whole argument is about competition," Simmons said.

"There is something irrational and illogical about Quilty's comments. I think it's an indication that they feel threatened by our bid."