Is Telstra sexy again?

Cast your mind back 12 months and it will be near impossible to recall anyone sticking their neck out to back Telstra. As we sit today, shares in one of Australia’s boring old industrials has staged a 50% price rise and paid a couple of fully franked dividends. 

The list of reasons not to like Telstra is seemingly endless. Awful customer service, declining earnings, dividend cuts, new competition and margin pressure resulting from the NBN. Today, however, the competition is in disarray, there are some serious doubts on the future of NBN and Telstra is still standing... with the prospect of 5G on the horizon, could Telstra be sexy again?

I guess there’s a number of catalysts. One is the upcoming 5G and the sex and the sizzle that 5G brings to Telstra. It’s a long time since we talked about Telstra in that kind of light ... There’s a lot of competition that is distracted while Telstra has one clear message; ‘We have got 5G.’

Matthew Kidman from Centennial Asset Management hosts Michael Wayne from Medallion Financial and Henry Jennings from Marcus Today in the latest exclusive brought to you by Livewire

Discussion points

• Catalysts behind the surge in Telstra’s
• Climbing the wall of worry with falling earnings and dividend cuts
• The impact of NBN and how this might play out over the coming years
• Telstra’s competitive advantage
• Which telco is the best to own and why?

NBN has really hurt the sector, it has been a race to the bottom to try and win customers and that has really put margins under pressure.