Telstra board shrinks again

Stuart Corner
Monday, 13 February 2006 06:37

IT Industry - Strategy

Telstra director, John Fletcher, has announced his intention to retired on 30 June, a move which will leave the Telstra board with just six directors including CEO Sol Trujillo, unless new members are recruited. He has been a director since November 2000.

Telstra chairman, Donald McGauchie, announced on 10 February that the board had accepted  Fletcher's resignation. Telstra said his position would be filled along with other vacancies and that "Telstra is well advanced in the process of identifying appropriate candidates who have international and domestic business experience and capabilities that are appropriate for the company’s needs."

McGauchie said: "The process for reviewing candidates includes giving attention to new needs owing to continuing uncertainty around key regulatory decisions, the development of Telstra's new strategy, and the potential full privatisation of Telstra.”

Since McGauchie's predecessor, Bob Mansfield was ousted from the board in April 2004, the Telstra board has lost Bill Owens, Sam Chisholm, John Ralph and Tony Clark. Owens - an American who was also on the board of Nortel left to take on the CEO position at Nortel - was the last independent director with any telecommunications industry experience.