Good morning, shareholders, and welcome to Telstra's 2020 AGM, wherever you are joining us from today. I'm Ross Moffat, Head of Investor Relations, and it's my pleasure to be your emcee today. As is Telstra custom at events like this, can I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. As the meeting is being conducted entirely online this year for the first time, I want to cover some important procedural and technical matters before I hand over to your chairman, John Mullen. Our Telstra Virtual AGM User Guide is available on your AGM website. It contains all the information you need about how to vote and ask questions at today's meeting. If you haven't already done so, you may find it helpful to download the guide and keep it handy.
If you have any trouble using the online platform during the meeting, please check the guide or call the help number shown on your screen for assistance. To register to vote and get a voting card, click on the Get a Voting Card box at the top of your screen and enter your shareholder number and postcode, or country, if outside Australia. To vote, click on the For, Against, or Abstain voting buttons for the relevant items. Once you have completed your card, submit the Submit button. You may edit your voting card as many times as you like during the course of the meeting. Shareholders can submit written questions anytime. From now, by clicking on the Ask a Question box, which is also at the top of your screen. Shareholders, if you do have questions, I encourage you to submit them as soon as possible.
In terms of how we'll manage shareholder questions today, I will read your questions to the chairman verbatim on your behalf. We will deal with questions in accordance with the item shareholders have submitted them under. If you're asking a question today as a representative of a particular organization or group of people, and you would like this known to the meeting, please include that in your question. To assist with the efficient conduct of the meeting, if we receive a number of questions that are largely the same, we won't read out every one of them, but we'll do our best to make sure we have broadly covered the issues shareholders have raised today with the questions we do read out.
If we can't answer your question fully, or we're inundated with questions and can't get through all of them during the meeting, we'll make sure we respond to any unanswered questions after the meeting, either directly or through the frequent answers to the frequently asked questions from the shareholders, which we'll put on our website following the meeting. If you submit a question about an individual customer or shareholder issue, which isn't relevant to shareholders as a whole or the matters before the meeting today, one of our customer service or share registry staff will be in touch with you after the meeting. Any questions which we consider are defamatory or include coarse language will not be read out or responded to. If we experience any technology issues during the meeting, we may need to take a short break.
If there is a significant technological issue and we need to adjourn the meeting to another time or date, please keep an eye on your email inbox and our AGM website for updates and further details. We'll also lodge details with the ASX. Now, with those procedural matters out of the way, I'll hand over to your chairman, John Mullen.
Great. Thanks a lot, Ross, and a very good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is John Mullen, and it's my pleasure to welcome you this morning to Telstra's 2020 Annual General Meeting. It's a historic moment we're sharing today. It's our first-ever virtual AGM, so it's a new one for us. Bear with us if things don't go 100% as planned, but I think hopefully they will be fine. We would obviously have much preferred to meet in person, but with travel for many of you and for our directors being impossible, we think that this format is the best solution at a time when very few things are normal. With quorum now present, I would like to formally declare the meeting open.
A notice of meeting was distributed earlier, which set out the business and the resolutions that we will be considering today, and as usual, I propose to take that notice as read. There are a number of items of business on today's agenda, and all of these are shown on the screen now. Voting on items three to six will be conducted by poll, and that poll is now open. While we're lacking the personal interaction that we usually enjoy at a normal AGM, there's still the opportunity, of course, today for a digital dialogue, and I look forward to your comments and questions, as outlined by Ross earlier. I'd now like to introduce my colleagues with me here in Sydney and by video or audio from other locations. With me here in Sydney are Craig Dunn.
Craig is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee and will chair the part of the meeting dealing with my re-election. Vicki Brady, our Chief Financial Officer as well. Joining us from Melbourne, we have Andrew Penn, our Chief Executive Officer, and Sue Laver, our Company Secretary. Then joining us from the various locations across Australia and around the world, the rest of my fellow board members. And can I, in particular, welcome two outstanding new directors, Elana Rubin and Bridget Loudon, who both joined the board this year. You will hear from them both shortly. Also with me here in Sydney today is Andrew Price from our auditors, Ernst & Young, and Andrew can answer any questions you may have on the conduct of the audit or on the auditors' report itself.
So it would be an understatement to say, that this has been a tumultuous year. From the bushfires that devastated so much of the country last summer to the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled the world's economy and impacted so many aspects of our lives, our world has been turned upside down. It really is a special privilege to be healthy and to live in a country that's relatively safe, notwithstanding the fact, of course, that COVID is affecting us all in some way. And I do want to acknowledge, what we're all going through, investors, customers, and employees, particularly those in Melbourne, where many tough restrictions remain in place, and to wish you and your families all good health.... Through all of this, Telstra has tried to set an example for our people, for our customers, and for our country.
We've tried to set an example by maintaining our operations and business performance through these difficult times, and we tried to set an example by supporting government, society, and individuals as we all navigate through the pandemic. Despite these extraordinary events, however, this has also been a strong year for Telstra, and it says a lot about the strength and resilience of our business and strategy that through all of this unprecedented disruption, we were able to perform close to expectations, we were able to maintain our dividend, and we were able to provide clear guidance for the year ahead. So what of our progress this year? Well, when we launched T22 in 2018, we said it was about disrupting ourselves before we were disrupted. That approach has helped us through COVID, and it will help us capitalize on new and different growth opportunities in the future.
Andy will talk in more detail shortly, but I do just want to call out three of the fundamentals from our progress on T22 so far. Firstly, simplifying and digitizing the business. This has ranged from reducing 1,800 mass-market consumer plans down to 20 plans in-market. Introducing new technology stacks that streamline the customer experience, and join the dots in the systems and processes behind the scenes for our people. Rapidly introducing messaging during COVID, as our call centers in the Philippines and India were disrupted, to setting a new aspiration that all calls from our consumer and small business customers will be answered in Australia by the time T22 is complete. Today, we're already answering more than 50% of calls in Australia, and we're going to take that to 100%.
Irrespective of where we answer those calls, of course, improved service and increased digitization will lead to fewer calls. It's very pleasing to see, therefore, that since the beginning of our T22 program, inbound calls have reduced by almost 50%, from 36 million per annum to 21 million per annum. We project that this will reduce by almost half again by the end of T22. Secondly, then, 5G and our ongoing mobile leadership. Telstra's 5G now covers over 40% of the Australian population, an area that more than 12 million Australians live in, work in, or pass through every day. We already have 5G in selected areas of 53 cities and towns, and we've accelerated the rollout so that coverage will reach to around 75% of the Australian population by June 2021.
As with the rollout of 3G and 4G previously, Telstra is the clear market leader in 5G already, and this reinforces that Telstra has and will retain, by far, the best network in Australia. Lastly, the establishment of Telstra InfraCo, where we have made excellent progress with the establishment of our internal InfraCo structure. This means that we will now be able to provide transparency over the different asset classes in our infrastructure business, and from the end of this financial year, we'll be ready to consider monetizing some or all of these assets if this creates appropriate value for shareholders. In the event of any eventual privatization of the NBN, this may include the opportunity for Telstra to work with government on solutions for the NBN that might provide increased value to Telstra shareholders, the government, and the community.
I want to now turn to the broader issue of the role and responsibilities that businesses have in our society, and the idea that business will only be successful for its shareholders if their customers, employees, and communities are also successful. Telstra has tried to play a leading role in achieving a balance between delivering profits to shareholders with social responsibility in assisting those less fortunate in society. Telstra can be very proud of its record in this regard. As well as being at the cutting edge of technology innovation, we also continue to play an important role in connecting and supporting communities in every corner of the nation, including in regional and remote areas, and in serving the needs of our customers in vulnerable circumstances.
As digital technologies continue to play an increasingly central role in our world, there remains a significant gap between those who are connected and those who are not, and we're doing a lot in this area. In the last year alone, we've provided access and assistance to around 900,000 vulnerable customers, and we enabled 23,000 people to receive digital capabilities training through our Everyone Connected programs. During the bushfires last summer, we provided vital infrastructure for emergency services and community evacuation centers. We paid the mobile phone bills for around 10,000 firefighters and SES volunteers. We provided free access to our payphone network and Telstra Air Wi-Fi hotspots. And again, during COVID, we introduced new global epidemic and pandemic leave policies for our employees, paid leave for our casual employees.
We brought forward AUD 500 million in CapEx investments to accelerate our 5G build and inject money into the economy, created relief programs for small business and consumer customers, provided temporary unlimited data allowances for home broadband customers, and offered additional data to mobile customers. We also put all further T22 productivity job reductions for permanent employees on hold until February next year to give our people certainty during this difficult and uncertain time. While I acknowledge there are differing shareholder views on the role and responsibilities of business, we believe being part of the fabric of our community also means taking action on these important issues. Not on every issue, of course, but on those that are relevant to our business and that impact our customers and our people. Climate change is an example of where we believe that businesses, including Telstra, should be taking meaningful action....
The business sector is a material contributor to greenhouse emissions, and rapid climate change is creating risks that impact our economy, our business, our environment, and each of us individually. Telstra is one of the largest consumers of energy in the country, and last year, our operations resulted in nearly 1.2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Compounding that is a rise in demand as businesses, governments, and communities increasingly adopt new digital technologies. Now, to get that scale, traffic on our network grew by 28% this year, and is expected to more than triple between June 2020 to June 2025. While Telstra has long focused on ensuring our networks are energy efficient, we also believe we can and should do more.
This year, Telstra received formal carbon neutral certification from Climate Active through emissions reductions, renewable energy investment, and purchasing credits from carbon offset projects. Going forward, we've then committed to enabling renewable energy generation equivalent to 100% of our consumption by 2025, and to reducing our absolute emissions by at least 50% by 2030. No other telecommunications company, and in fact, very few other businesses, full stop, can match Telstra for its involvement in or its positive impact on the communities in which we operate, and that is an ongoing source of great organizational pride for us all. But I recognize that there's a balance between social responsibility, generally, and more recently in response to COVID, and its potential economic impacts on corporations.
My commitment is that as we tackle these issues, our purpose and values will continue to guide us, and we will be open and transparent about what we're doing, and most of all, we'll endeavor to find the right balance for our shareholders, our people, our customers, and the communities in which we operate. Right, let me now turn to the often vexed issue of executive remuneration. It was very pleasing this year to see broad support from proxy advisors and others for our approach to executive remuneration, which, as I've said many times, is a responsibility that the Telstra board takes incredibly seriously. We spend a huge amount of time trying to get the balance right between protecting shareholders' interests and not overpaying executives, while at the same time motivating, incentivizing, and retaining the best management talent that we can.
Unfortunately, there is nothing simple or easy about this process, and I still believe that it is overly complex and confusing. I do sometimes wonder if it's time to consider a simpler model going forward. I'm old enough to remember when I just got paid a salary, and if I did a bad job, I was fired. I sometimes wonder whether we shouldn't go back to those days and just give senior executives a fixed salary, the majority of which would be paid in shares, so that if the company shares perform well, then the executive would earn more, and if they perform badly, the executive would earn less.
But that's a discussion for another day, but it would greatly simplify the whole executive remuneration debate, eliminate the need for most of the ever more complex remuneration reports that everybody produces, save countless hours of debate at remuneration committees, and eliminate hundreds of thousands of AUD spent on remuneration consultants and a whole industry that has grown up around the issue. Leaving this aside for now, however, we really do believe that Telstra is a leader in disclosure, and that we provide full transparency over the remuneration targets given to management, both retrospectively for the year just gone, as well as prospectively for the year ahead. And unless there's good reason, the board therefore prefers to let the scheme run without adjustment, making sure that shareholders can see exactly what management are being rewarded to deliver.
In line with the above, this year, the board gave detailed consideration to the impact of COVID-19 on the company's performance. Overall, the pandemic had a negative impact on executive remuneration in two principal areas. Firstly, a combination of reduced revenues and the deliberate decisions to defer redundancies, introduce assistance packages for disadvantaged customers and other social measures, that all led to a negative impact of around AUD 200 million on the company's underlying EBITDA. This, in turn, led to management missing their underlying EBITDA incentive target. Then secondly, the pandemic caused huge challenges with Telstra's customer service capabilities, with some 16,000 call center operators becoming unable to go to their place of work almost overnight.
This, in turn, led to a fall in customer experience, and therefore, the company's episode NPS score, resulting in management also missing their NPS targets and forfeiting all incentive outcomes for this measure. Without this impact from COVID, management would have likely achieved both their underlying EBITDA and their NPS thresholds and have been remunerated accordingly. However, some metrics, such as digital engagement, were positively impacted by the pandemic, so on balance, the board decided not to exercise any discretion to compensate for the COVID impact, and management received a zero payout on both the underlying EBITDA and the episode NPS measures.
However, there's one key area this year where the board did exercise its discretion, and three executives, including Andy, had a 10% reduction in their individual outcomes, reducing payments to these executives collectively by AUD 758,000 as a result of an issue relating to sales practices in a small number of our partner stores. To his very great credit, this is an issue that Andy has spoken about publicly and at length over the last year. In summary, quickly, some years ago, we became aware of an issue where a small number of our partner stores, those operated by third parties under a license agreement, sold mobile devices and plans to a number of Indigenous customers that ultimately they could not afford or may not have been appropriate for their needs.
When we investigated, we found that there had been some serious cases of serious misconduct. To provide context, however, this represented some 100 customers out of nearly 10 million customers, and 100 or so devices out of the approximately 2 million that we sell each year. Furthermore, all resultant debts have since been waived or refunded, or are in the process of being waived or refunded, and in almost all cases, the individuals kept the equipment. But even one example of bad practice is too many, and we acknowledge and accept full responsibility for these failures. We have been progressively implementing a comprehensive program to ensure that such an issue does not occur again, and we're also cooperating with Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigation into the issue.
Our view in these matters is that the responsibility ultimately stops with the company's leadership, and the board's decision on remuneration outcomes for Andy and two of his executive team reflected that while there was no specific adverse conduct by them personally, they were ultimately accountable. Good. So turning now to the changes this year in Telstra leadership. Andy will talk about his management team shortly, but on the board, we continue to inject fresh thinking, expertise, and experience. Shortly, you will hear from two fantastic new directors standing for election, Bridget Loudon and Elana Rubin. Bridget is an entrepreneur and business leader who founded Australia's number one skill talent platform, Expert360. Bridget adds a unique perspective to the board. Firstly, Bridget brings a strong track record of entrepreneurial success from building businesses steeped in the application of modern digital solutions to old world problems.
Secondly, she brings a perspective of youth, and it is youth that is driving so much of the explosive change in telecommunications, technology, data, and social media usage today. While I and my fellow, fellow directors understand and appreciate technology, we were not born digital natives, and it is important to have such a voice permanently on our board. I'm absolutely delighted that Bridget has agreed to join us. And Elana. Elana brings more than 20 years of board experience across the financial service sector, including superannuation and funds management, as well as the property, infrastructure, and government sectors. While I and management spend a lot of time interacting with shareholders, and I thoroughly enjoy that responsibility, this is not the same as having somebody permanently on our board who speaks for the investor and who pushes the board on our social responsibilities, customer issues, and obligations.
I'm absolutely delighted that Elana has also agreed to join us. Both Bridget and Elana are outstanding additions to the Telstra board, and I ask that you vote in favor of their election. Two directors are also standing for re-election, being Peter Hearl and myself, and we will also address the meeting shortly. Let me now then make a couple of comments about the future. As we move further into the financial year 2021, Telstra is now at a point where we are much closer to the finish of our T22 strategy than the start. We are closer to the point where we will have completed what is the greatest transformation that this company has ever undertaken, and almost certainly one of the most ambitious and radical transformations undertaken by a telecommunications company anywhere in the world.
The T22 program is comprised of over 100 metrics that are monitored by management and the board. Pleasingly, while obviously not every objective will be realized, the majority of targets are being achieved, and overall, the program is going to be very successful. Notable successes include progress against the AUD 2.5 billion cost takeout target, where management has done and is doing an excellent job in reducing cost to support our ambition to move from the bottom quartile of cost efficiency amongst global legacy telcos to the top quartile. An equally significant success is in digital interactions, which I, I alluded to earlier. Disappointingly, however, one of the targets that will not be met within the original T22 timeframe, at least, is the ROIC, or the return on invested capital, target of greater than 10% by the end of financial year 2022.
I'd like to take a moment just to explain the revised ROIC target, which is to achieve a ROIC of greater than 7% by FY 2023. Firstly, completely independently of performance, recent accounting standard changes have reduced the way that ROIC is reported by about 1%. So this reduces the original target from 10 to around 9%. Then we've also said that to maintain the dividend, we need to achieve underlying EBITDA in the order of AUD 7.5 billion-AUD 8.5 billion post the NBN, which we are absolutely aspiring to achieve. A result towards the bottom end of this range would equate to an estimated ROIC of close to 8%. And if we are successful in achieving that, then the change in our ROIC from the original target would be slightly more than 1%.
Now, while the impacts of competition and COVID mean that we will not achieve our original goal in our original timeframe, our level of aspiration should therefore not be interpreted as being capped at a ROIC of 7%, and over time, we will continue to pursue opportunities to achieve a higher ROIC closer to our original target. Secondly, we can now see the point where the NBN migration will be fully complete and its impact finally washed through our financials. Come financial year 2023, the negative EBITDA impact of the NBN will have been fully absorbed, and all of the one-off payments for NBN disconnections will have been received. That will be an historic moment, but shareholders should be aware the net cost to Telstra of this has been huge... around AUD 3.5 billion in recurring EBITDA when it is complete.
This is a good moment for me to reinforce that the board of Telstra is acutely aware that the level of earnings being delivered by Telstra, the dividend, and the share price are a disappointment to many investors, as indeed they are to us as well. It's easy to just say management has to do better, but for the board to objectively judge the performance of the management team, we need to look at why earnings and the dividend are where they are. We need to look at management's performance against the objectives that have been set, the performance of industry peers around the world, and performance against our competition in Australia.
The reality is that Telstra has lost over AUD 6 billion of profit in the last decade or so, predominantly from the impact of the NBN, but also from the loss of voice revenues, SMS revenues, global roaming, and other pressures, and this has had an inevitable impact on earnings, dividends, and our share price. There are very few precedents in corporate Australia for an impact or a challenge of this magnitude. But Telstra reacted to this challenge by introducing its T22 program, which is acknowledged as the most ambitious transformation of any global telco today. The cost out and digital transformation elements of T22 are unprecedented in ambition and timeframe. And against its domestic and global peers, although tough for everyone, Telstra's performance stands out well across most metrics, including earnings, ROIC, margins, and revenue per user.
It's worth noting that this week, the GSMA released its global mobile connectivity index, and Australia was ranked first in the world for mobile network performance. This is fantastic for our industry and for our country, and as Telstra's mobile network is the best in Australia, I think that we can rightfully be very proud of what has been achieved. This means there is no silver bullet, but there is every reason to be very positive about the future. The NBN is finally almost behind us. Our underlying EBITDA, excluding the NBN headwind, has started to grow again, and new opportunities are opening up every day.
The dramatic acceleration during COVID in areas like telehealth, online learning, remote working, and e-commerce are running in parallel with other new opportunities in new areas like cloud computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, IoT in key sectors like mining, agriculture, transport, autonomous vehicles, big data, drones, gaming, satellite technology, and the rest. Telstra Health, as just one example, is creating an ecosystem of services that can help with everything from simple consultation with a GP to delivering paperless prescriptions and to creating new integrated capabilities in healthcare and aged care at a national level. Telstra Health is still small, but it is really exciting, and it is growing fast.
It's my personal view, not a company projection, but it's my personal view that after time, I will stick my neck out and say that I believe that one day, Telstra Health will be a real success story and a very significant contributor to the size and success of Telstra overall. That is just one opportunity for Telstra among many. Lastly, then, let me comment on the dividend. So the board is acutely aware of the importance of the dividend to shareholders, and we understand the nervousness from some that COVID and other pressures may force Telstra to again cut its dividend.
Andy has previously said that to maintain the dividend at AUD 0.16 within our capital management framework post the NBN, we need to achieve underlying EBITDA in the order of AUD 7.5 billion-AUD 8.5 billion, and I want to assure you that we are absolutely aspiring to achieve this. The board clearly understands the importance of the dividend and, if necessary, is prepared to temporarily exceed our capital management framework principle of paying an ordinary dividend of 70%-90% of underlying earnings to maintain the AUD 0.16 dividend. We would consider the following factors in determining whether to do so. Firstly, whether an underlying EBITDA of AUD 7.5 billion-AUD 8.5 billion post the rollout of the NBN is achievable. Secondly, whether the free cash flow dividend payout ratio remains supportive, and we retain a strong financial position.
Thirdly, whether there are any other factors that would make the payment of the dividend at that level imprudent. Now, obviously, this does not represent a guarantee of any level of dividend into the future, as the board will need to consider all relevant circumstances before declaring each dividend. But hopefully, this does clearly demonstrate the board's commitment to do all that it responsibly can do to maintain the current dividend and eventually increase it again over time. I'll close here by again saying that this has been an extraordinary year, the like of which I do not think any of us have seen before. Despite this, Telstra has not just survived, but is stronger, more efficient, and more capable than ever before.
Telstra has played a leading role in supporting the community through the pandemic crisis, and despite this, is still financially strong and in a better position for the future. Now, whatever 2021 brings us, this will continue, and Telstra's strength will endure. But finally, before I invite Andy to address you, let me sincerely thank you, our shareholders, for your patience and support during the year. Let me also thank our customers, because without them, there would be no Telstra. And finally, again, thanks to every Telstra staff member. The board greatly appreciates all that you do, and I believe so, too, do our shareholders. Thanks very much for listening, and now let me introduce our Chief Executive Officer, Andy Penn, and invite him to address the meeting. Thank you.
... Well, thank you very much, Chairman, and good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us today. I'd like to echo the chairman in trusting that you and your families are in good health and remaining safe during the current COVID crisis. While our AGM forum is in a very different format this year, we do nonetheless appreciate your participation and value the opportunity to connect with our shareholders, albeit virtually. We also look forward to hearing your comments and to answering any questions you may have. I'm pleased to join you from my home in Melbourne. In my presentation this morning, I would like to cover four things. Firstly, I will comment briefly on the financial and operating results from the last financial year.
Secondly, I will provide an update in relation to the progress that we are making in the delivery of our T22 strategy, the importance of which has only been reinforced during this COVID period, as you heard from the chairman. Thirdly, I will comment on our strategic outlook for the future in the context of the current environment, and in particular, the role that Telstra plays in supporting the government's aspiration for Australia to be a leading digital economy by 2030, and the opportunities that this presents and how we are preparing for them. Finally, I will provide an overview of our priorities and guidance for the current financial year. Let me start with our financial results and also the operating highlights for the year that has just ended, financial year 2020. I'm pleased to say that our results were in line with guidance.
This is notwithstanding the impact of the bushfires and the negative financial impact from COVID on underlying EBITDA, which is estimated to be in the order of AUD 200 million. On a reported basis, total income for the year decreased 5.9% to AUD 26.2 billion, and net profit after tax decreased 14.4% to AUD 1.8 billion. Reported EBITDA was AUD 8.9 billion. After adjusting for lease accounting on a like-for-like basis, EBITDA decreased 0.3% to AUD 8.4 billion. Underlying EBITDA on a guidance basis declined 9.7%. As you know, the negative impact of the NBN on Telstra from an economic perspective happens progressively as the NBN is rolled out. Therefore, excluding the NBN headwind is the best way to get the clearest view of the underlying business performance.
On this basis, underlying EBITDA for the year grew by approximately AUD 40 million, with growth in the H1 of the year offset by declines predominantly associated with COVID in the H2. The board resolved to pay a fully franked dividend of AUD 0.08 per share, comprising a final ordinary dividend of AUD 0.05 per share and a final special dividend of AUD 0.03 per share. This brings the total dividend for FY 2020 to AUD 0.16 per share. In other words, we saw AUD 1.9 billion returned to shareholders. Turning then to our operating highlights, I'm pleased to say that we continued to grow the number of services that we are providing to our customers, an important measurement of the health of the business.
In our mobiles business, we added 240,000 net retail post-paid mobile services, including 86,000 branded and 154,000 from Belong. We added 171,000 mobile prepaid unique users. One of the features of the year was increased activity in the price sensitive end of the market, as demonstrated through the continued strong performance in Belong and also in Wholesale. In fact, in Wholesale, we added 347,000 services, while we added a further 652,000 Internet of Things services. In Fixed, we added 80,000 net new retail bundle and data services, including 79,000 from Belong.
In fact, Belong now has more than 730,000 services in its own right, making it one of the largest telecommunications operators in Australia, with more than 400,000 mobile services and 330,000 fixed. Finally, on costs, underlying fixed costs were down AUD 615 million. Let me turn then to the progress that we have been making in our T22 strategy. You have already heard from the Chairman, who has taken you through some of this at a high level, but I wanted to share some of the detail, and in particular, why the strategy is so important to our future. This COVID-19 period has highlighted that connectivity has never been more important. As many of us have been forced to work and study from home, we have witnessed a huge acceleration in the digital economy.
And of course, telecommunications and connectivity underpin this. When we launched T22 two years ago, we did so very clearly to radically simplify and digitize our business, to remove customer pain points, to remove legacy systems and processes, to introduce new agile ways of working, and to further extend our network leadership, in particular, including leading in 5G. In other words, we did so to better prepare the business for the acceleration in the digital economy, which we saw coming. The good news is that this year we passed the midway point of our T22 strategy, and we are very well progressed. We have delivered or we are on track to deliver more than three-quarters of our strategic objectives, and this progress is visible right the way across the business.
Consumer and small business in-market plans have been cut from more than 1,800 to 20, and we now have more than 4.8 million services on those plans. Our new loyalty program, Telstra Plus, which was launched a little over a year ago, has almost 2.5 million members. Reward redemption rates increased more than fourfold between the H1 of the 2020 financial year and the second. Our work to digitize the company means a new set of technologies are being rolled out to simplify store processes, enabling us to retire many complex and cumbersome legacy systems that have caused delay and problems in the past.
It's also enabling digital engagement with our customers, and by the end of financial 2020, more than 71% of Telstra consumer and small business service transactions were via digital channels, up from a little over 50% just 12 months before. The new My Telstra app, which replaced the 24x7 app, was downloaded 3.7 million times within the space of just a few weeks. Notwithstanding this progress, however, one of the impacts of COVID was on our workforce capacity due to extensive lockdowns in overseas locations such as India and the Philippines, and this did have an impact on customer experience. While we have moved a large amount of this work online and to Australia, I am conscious of the delays some customers have experienced during this period, and I want to apologize for those.
These workforce capacity challenges offshore and the acceleration to digital channels have, however, provoked our thinking on our customer service model for the future. As a consequence, by the end of our T22 program, we now plan to answer all inbound calls from consumer and small business customers in Australia. This, in turn, will enable our teams offshore to focus on supporting customers' digital experiences. As part of our T22 program, we have also rolled out Agile at scale inside Telstra and continue to embed this new cross-functional, customer-centric way of working across the organization. We now have more than 10,000 Telstra employees working in Agile teams, and it's been incredibly helpful in helping us adapt to the new working conditions over recent months. In networks, we continue our leadership.
We were number one in the major mobile network surveys during the year, and of course, we have continued our clear leadership in 5G. Indeed, as the chairman mentioned earlier, Telstra 5G now covers more than 40% of the Australian population. And last month, we launched a fixed wireless product, which offers customers home broadband connectivity using 5G, with connection speeds of between 50-300 Mbps. And because this service runs over the mobile network, no technician appointment is required. You simply plug in the modem and turn it on. So it's an incredibly exciting product alternative for customers who are getting a poor experience from NBN. Telstra InfraCo has now also become fully operational. It's a standalone infrastructure business unit, controlling assets with a book value of around AUD 11 billion.
We will provide a further update on our planned next steps for Telstra InfraCo at our Investor Day in November. This will include a deep dive into the opportunities for increased operational efficiency and increased value generation, as well as the next steps towards potential monetization. Finally, our productivity program is also on track, and we have delivered AUD 1.8 billion worth of savings so far and remain committed to reach our target of reducing annualized fixed costs by AUD 2.5 billion by FY 2022. This target includes the impact of our decision to delay our T22 productivity job reduction announcements for permanent employees until next November, sorry, next February. This. There will be some job reductions where work ends, such as the end of the rollout of the NBN. However, it has provided us and our people with security during this period.
Notwithstanding the significant progress with our T22 program, we were disappointed to acknowledge that we will not achieve our invested capital target inside the original timeframe. As the chairman has said, we are very focused on our EBITDA being in the range of AUD 7.5 billion-AUD 8.5 billion in FY 2023 to support a AUD 0.16 dividend, and towards the bottom end of this range, this equates to a ROIC of close to 8%. We also remain committed to pulling every lever that we can to achieve higher ROIC over time. In summary, then, 2020 was a year of significant progress for your company. A year when we continued to deliver for our customers, support our people, support our community, while focusing on putting in place the right mechanisms to support long-term generation of shareholder value.
A year where we continued to transform Telstra as a much simpler and more customer-focused organization through our T22 strategy. Importantly, a year where we also continued to build a company that is able to play a central role as the digital revolution gathers pace and new opportunities from far-reaching reform emerge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Let me turn to this now. Last November, the Prime Minister gave a seminal speech to the Business Council of Australia. In this speech, he set out his vision for Australia to be a leading digital economy by 2030.... Across Australia and around the world, COVID has been a once in a generation shock, a profound disruption that has forced reassessment, adaptation, and transformation of our economies, our social institutions, our ways of working, our ways of learning and living.
These moments of historic and profound disruption also, however, bring opportunities to be bold and to rethink conventional wisdom, and to seek out new economic and social opportunities to help us build a stronger future for everyone. COVID has proven that change can be made and embraced quickly. It has also proven that digitization of the economy is the absolute key to a fast recovery. We have seen more progress in digital adoption in the last few months than we have in years, including in activities such as telehealth, online learning, remote working, and of course, e-commerce. What is important now, though, is that we build on that momentum by removing barriers, incentivizing investment and growth, and encouraging reform. This is why we welcome the federal government's recent announcements to support and invest in the digital economy.
However, it is also important to point out that a digital economy-led recovery will only be successful if our nation's telecommunications infrastructure has the right policy and regulatory settings in place to ensure its success, too. To put it simply, consumers and businesses can only do business online if we have a successful telecommunication sector providing outstanding fixed and mobile connectivity. So with the completion of the NBN rollout, there is now an opportunity for Australia to develop a future vision for Australia's digital economy and the telecommunications industry for the next decade. A vision that is pro-tech, pro-investment, pro-innovation, technology agnostic. A vision that not only considers the NBN, but the success of the whole telecommunications sector. Also, with so much at stake, robust and effective cybersecurity has, of course, never been more important.
Our economy, our society, and our future depends on Australia's cyber defenses being strong, adaptive, and built on a strategic framework that is coordinated, integrated, and capable. The federal government's 2020 Cyber Security Strategy provides that framework, and I was pleased to be involved through leading the government's advisory panel for their strategy. If these important policy issues can be addressed, there's significant potential to accelerate the digital economy and meet the Prime Minister's vision. It also creates significant opportunities for your company, for which we are well prepared, given the progress that we have made on our T22 strategy. Opportunities to meet the demand for increased speeds and capacity and connectivity through our leading networks, including 5G. Opportunities to support new applications such as the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, and gaming.
Opportunities to help customers protect themselves online through our cybersecurity services and our Cleaner Pipes initiatives. Opportunities to help businesses migrate their computer workloads to the cloud. Opportunities, as you heard from the chairman, in telehealth and telemedicine through Telstra Health. It is against this background, and before finishing, that I would like to comment on the immediate priorities and the guidance for the year ahead. First and foremost, we must stay committed to delivering the balance of our T22 program. This is crucial to setting us up successfully for the new post-COVID digital era. This means we must stay committed to simplification, completing our digitization program. It means transforming our enterprise business with initiatives such as Adaptive Networks, enabling Australian companies to respond to the changing dynamics and how they're impacting them. It means further maturing our ways of working and embedding our new operating model.
It means extending our leadership in 5G and realizing the value from our strategic investment in networks, including coverage to 75% of the Australian population by the end of the financial year. It means ensuring InfraCo is investor-ready and driving increased value from passive assets. And finally, it means continue to deliver against our AUD 2.5 billion productivity target, including AUD 400 million of savings in FY 2021. Our financial guidance for FY 2021 is for total income to be in the range of AUD 23.2 billion-AUD 25.1 billion. For the NBN net one-off NBN DA receipts less NBN cost to connect, to be in the range of AUD 0.7 billion-AUD 1 billion. For capital expenditure, to be in the range of AUD 2.8 billion-AUD 3.2 billion.
Free cash flow after operating lease payments to be in the range of AUD 2.8 billion-AUD 3.3 billion. Underlying EBITDA guidance for FY21 assumes an estimated negative impact from COVID of approximately AUD 400 million. The in-year NBN headwind for FY21 is expected to have a negative impact on underlying EBITDA of approximately AUD 700 million. To achieve growth, therefore, excluding the in-year NBN headwind in FY21, underlying EBITDA will need to be around the midpoint of our guidance range. The other assumptions and conditions under which we have provided FY21 guidance are shown on the bottom of the slide. Before I close, I would like to join the chairman in thanking the many dedicated employees who make Telstra the great company that it is.
Despite the disruptions and impact on them personally during COVID, every day I know that they remain focused on serving our customers and doing the best they can to keep them connected, and for that, I want to sincerely thank them. I would also like to thank the Telstra management team for their dedication, their hard work, and their willingness to step up to this challenge this year. I am personally very proud to work with such a talented and committed group of professionals. The chairman has already commented on renewal at the board level, but we have also had two important additions to the senior management team this year. In particular, Kim Krogh Andersen has joined us from the Scandinavian telecommunications company, Telenor, to lead our product and technology group.
We also welcomed Lyndall Stoyles from Caltex as Group General Counsel and Group Executive responsible for sustainability, external affairs, and legal. Both are first-class executives that joined a strong and diverse team. Let me summarize then before I hand back to the chairman. 2020 was a uniquely challenging year, but also one that underscored the importance of connectivity in our society. It was a year that saw a huge acceleration in the digital economy, now so important to our future and where Telstra has a key role to play. It was a year where we saw the real value of our T22 investments to transform Telstra for the future as a simpler, more digital, digital and more agile business built around its purpose, its values, and a commitment to responsible business.
I know we still have a lot of work to do to truly transform Telstra, but with the progress we have made, we look at the year ahead with growing confidence in our ability to deliver our strategic ambition. Thank you, and with that, I will now hand back to the Chairman.
Great. Thanks so much, Andy. We will now move to the formal part of the meeting, and the items of business are being shown on the screen now. Ross outlined at the start of the meeting how you can submit a question and vote. So just a reminder that if you do have any trouble using the online platform, please check our virtual AGM guide on our website or call the help number shown at the top of your screen. As I mentioned earlier, voting on items three to six is being conducted by poll. We have received proxies from over 2,500 shareholders and direct votes from nearly 4,000 shareholders. The proxy and direct votes recorded for and against each item will be shown on the screen at the conclusion of the discussion of that item.
The four numbers displayed will include proxies received and available to be voted by the chairman of the meeting. Ms. Emma Jones of Link Market Services Limited, she's Telstra's share registrar, will act as returning officer in relation to the poll. The results of the poll will be available later today on the ASX and on our website. I now turn to item two on today's agenda, which is to discuss the company's financial statements and reports for the year ended 30 June 2020. This item provides shareholders with the opportunity to ask questions about our 2020 financial statements and reports, as well as the business operations and management of Telstra. You can also ask questions of our auditor.
Shareholders, if you haven't already done so, please submit any questions you have about our 2020 financial results or any general questions about your company now. While you're doing that, we have received more than 80 questions from shareholders in advance of the meeting, covering a range of issues, and we will address some of the commonly raised topics, which we haven't already touched on today now. Ross.
Thank you, Chairman. A commonly asked question was about the share price. In particular, what are the expectations regarding the share price, and when is it going to improve?
Well, as I think I hopefully outlined in my speech earlier, Telstra has lost over AUD 6 billion of profit from a broad range of factors, most of which were outside Telstra's control. The biggest of which has obviously been the NBN, and it's inevitable that this has impacted the share price. However, Telstra has responded to this by launching the most far-reaching and ambitious transformation program we believe of any telco globally, which is our T22 program. So the best thing that we can do for the share price is to successfully implement this transformation, which is what we're doing.
Thank you, Chairman. We also received a number of questions and comments from shareholders about customer service. The issues raised by shareholders included difficulties in communicating with Telstra, especially over the last six months, and examples of poor customer service they had experienced.
Well, look, we totally understand this frustration. As many people I'm sure are aware, as a result of COVID, literally thousands of our call center staff, particularly those in the Philippines and India, almost overnight, were unable to do their normal jobs, and this put a huge strain on our ability to respond to customers' needs. However, the teams have worked incredibly hard to rebuild the capability, and today, I think our customer service call center performance is just about back to normal.
Thank you, Chairman. We've also received the following question from Sue Shields, representing the Australian Shareholders Association.
...The government's plan to run fibre to the home appears to be driven, in part, by showing up NBN's competitiveness with Australia's 5G mobile network. How will it impact Telstra's forward guidance and its return on its 5G investment?
Thanks, Sue. Thanks for that question. So firstly, let me say that today we've reaffirmed our guidance for financial year 2021. And then with respect to our 5G investment, look, it's a tremendously exciting development, and it's going to underpin the strength of our mobile business for years to come. And as I think I also said earlier, Telstra has taken a clear lead in 5G in Australia, with some 75% of the population going to be covered by the end of this financial year. And then, just as with 3G and 4G, we don't even know what all the eventual uses of 5G will be, but we're very confident that whatever they are, Telstra will be absolutely at the forefront of 5G technology in Australia, and our early investment will deliver great returns in the future.
There's always gonna be a place for both fixed broadband and mobiles, but we do not see the NBN as a threat to our 5G investment. I think that's all on that, so I thank all shareholders who took the time to engage with us before the meeting. And now, Ross, I think we'll take any questions that have been submitted in the portal since then.
Thank you, Chairman. I have a question from Steven Wilson: Why does Andrew Penn want to get rid of all secured customers, which he has been doing since August 2019, which is costing AUD millions, AUD millions a month, and wants to get his filthy hands on restricted shares? If you have a look at Telstra product review sites and see how bad the CEO and management team are treating customers, I just don't understand why this treatment. I don't expect a genuine answer, all else, as all I usually get is an obtuse answer.
Well, the comment on filthy hands doesn't warrant a civil response and won't get one, but I will happily respond on the secured customers. If I understand the question right, this is referring to the movement away from fixed plans that we've had in the past, through to the new flexible plans, the 1800 plans that we reduced down to 20 plans to allow customers complete flexibility and a much simpler product suite. And all I can say to that is that the response from customers has been very positive. It is, it is... I think Andy and I referred to disrupting ourselves before we were disrupted. That's exactly what that has been, to try to present a modern digital product lineup, as opposed to the old lock-in of long-term contracts.
I can't see how that can be anything other than in the customer's best interests.
Our next question, Chairman, is from Sue Shields, representing the Australian Shareholders Association. During the course of this reporting season, the ASA has noted a fall in the proxies represented, breaking a growing trend. With respect to proxies, can you advise the number of securities and the number of holders of securities voted, how this compares to last year, and what you believe it tells the company about its shareholder communications and engagement?
Okay, I don't think we've seen a great deal of change other than the fact that direct votes have fallen from around 13,000 last year to 4,000 this year. Proxies are about the same, around the 2.5 thousand. And the total percentage of votes of shareholders who voted, the total number of shares, is about the same as it was the previous year. So although this is a new world with a virtual AGM, it doesn't seem to have changed the key metrics on voting very much.
Our next question, Chairman, is from Frank Thompson: As a shareholder customer, I've had many experience of customer service through the call center. On almost every time, I have found this extremely disappointing, to the point where I've been to the Ombudsman and have gone to Optus for an extended period. Of note, I found Optus service much better. What is Telstra doing to seriously improve call center customer service? When will we see improvement, and when can we expect this to start improving the terrible Telstra reputation in this important area?
Well, I'd separate the answer probably into two parts. First, firstly, we fully acknowledge, as I think I mentioned in my speech, and Andy also referred, during COVID, our customer service experience has been massively impacted. Just literally, virtually overnight, we lost our ability to respond to a lot of calls, and that obviously had a dramatic impact across the board. That is more or less back to where it should be today. And, but then on the underlying, ongoing basis, we're making very good progress. Our challenge is, I guess we've got, we've got 18 million customers odd, and even if we performed 99.99%, that's still 10,000-20,000 customers who may get a bad experience.
So we've got to reach levels of performance that are exceptionally high before we don't get isolated examples of people who don't get a good experience. But that. All I can say is that the team are working exceptionally hard on that. It's a major plank of the T22 program, and I think I read out some statistics earlier of the number of calls having virtually halved since the start of our T22 program, and going to halve again by the end of it, which are hopefully customers who don't need to call because they haven't had a bad experience. So even so long as there's one unhappy customer, that's too many, but we're working extremely hard, day in, day out, to try to reduce those numbers as best we can.
Our next question, Chairman, is from Edward Amar: Dividends are slammed in about half since 2019, and share price is ridiculous, nowhere close to even IPO price. If you compare share price to TPG, it is a joke. Why Telstra dividend and share price is not doing anywhere near as good? Executive and board salaries are doing much better.
... Well, look, I think I've addressed that, but I'll try and reiterate again. Telstra has lost about six, or over AUD 6 billion of earnings, of profit, from predominantly the NBN, AUD 3.5 billion, but also some of the other factors that I mentioned. It is out of those profits that dividends are paid, and so it is simply inevitable that with that impact, our share price is going to fall, and our dividends will be reduced, which has happened. Telstra's not been sitting on its hands just accepting that. Telstra has, as I said, launched probably the most ambitious transformation program of any global telco to recover as much as we can that loss of earnings and ultimately build dividends again and build share price again, which is what we're working on trying to do.
Our next question is from Carrick Troy: Given you're a phone company, why have you not given shareholders the opportunity to participate in today's meeting via teleconference, like CBA has done?
Well, we did a lot of work leading into this, this virtual AGM, as I'm sure you'll understand, and, we looked at all the different options, examples of other companies, what worked best, what didn't, didn't work so well. There's no right or wrong answer, but we took the view that having people phone in direct just increases the risk of technical hitches and calls drop, not being coming up to Ross at the right time, et cetera, and we thought it much easier to have everything in print, on record, so we can see it and monitor it better, and I think that was the right decision.
We have another question from Carrick Troy: While I can see that Telstra has taken steps to ensure some gender diversity on both the board and executive team, I want to understand if you have any other diversity targets or aspirations you're striving towards for these groups, i.e., age, ethnicity, indigenous constituency, and whether you think the current representations are representative of your workforce?
So the answer, simple answer is yes. Diversity is something that the board takes extremely serious. I think, certainly at the board level itself, that some of the new appointments we're making, Elana and Bridget in particular, the overseas directors from the telco world who recently joined us, I think we're very comfortable that we have a very diverse and very capable board. Similarly, in terms of female representation, we have 40%, so we're comfortable that we're heading the right way there. And that is replicated all the way down through Andy's management activities. I think of many Australian companies, we do pretty well in terms of representation across the country.
We operate in every single nook and cranny of the country, indigenous communities, and the like, and we ensure that we have a balanced and diverse workforce wherever we possibly can. So that's one area that I think Telstra can really hold its head up well in.
Our next question is from Allison Letts: What are dividends looking like this year?
Well, I think I touched on that. Obviously can't make any forward-looking statement on dividends, but we are extremely conscious as a board of the importance of the dividend to shareholders, and we are working very hard to make sure that we maintain or improve our dividend over time.
Our next question is from Leith H. Campbell: Does the board envision an eventual merger of Telstra InfraCo with NBN Co? What effect would such an arrangement have on Telstra shareholders?
We don't envisage an eventual merger, but we do envisage a situation where opportunities for Telstra InfraCo and the NBN to have some form of interaction or cooperation or even possible merger one day could exist. Therefore, we've worked very hard to structure Telstra InfraCo in a way that firstly brings transparency of the asset classes within complex business like Telstra, but also shows the opportunities to potentially monetize some of those asset classes, leading through even to maybe one day some sort of a transaction with the NBN. Obviously, the future of the NBN is in the hands of government, and so all we can do is make sure that we're well prepared for any eventualities that may occur.
We've got another question from Carrick Troy: You're a large ASX-listed company with a very large retail shareholder base. Why have you scheduled your AGM at the same time as CBA, another very large ASX listing with a very large retail shareholder base? I'm a shareholder of both companies, and I had to choose which AGM to participate in. Telstra and CBA are both managed by Link Market Services on the same platform. Surely there was an opportunity to move the meeting before both of your notice of meetings went out.
We're very busy this morning, Mr. Troy. Look, we schedule our AGMs years in advance, not months or one year, many years in advance, and it's just simply not possible to canvass all other large companies when we set those dates to ensure that there's no clash. Other companies move their dates. Even if we did try to do that, then other companies or ourselves might have to move for some reason. There's always a risk of a clash, but I can assure you, we certainly do not deliberately schedule a meeting to clash with any other large corporate.
Our next question is from Hasnat Siddiqui: Given the influx of 5G-enabled devices to come, will Telstra be accelerating rollout of the 5G network, including millimetre wave?
Telstra's already accelerated the rollout of 5G network, and I think I mentioned earlier, we're already over 40% of population coverage, and we will be at 75% by the end of this financial year, which is going to be well ahead of all of the competition in Australia. The millimetre wave band spectrum auction, I think, comes out in March of next year, 2021, and we will obviously be a vigorous and active participant in that auction. And that, in turn, will allow the next sort of step of development of 5G, allowing much greater capacity in smaller defined areas and ideal for high-speed wireless communication, particularly in high-density areas such as metro and train stations and the like.
I can absolutely assure you, Telstra will be at the very forefront of 5G development in Australia.
... Our next question is from Philip Argy. "I'm currently enjoying BigPond Cable via HFC, a consistent 100 Mbps, 4 Mbps uplinks. But NBN says I'll be cut off if I don't agree to switch to fibre to the curb, an inferior service. Is there nothing Telstra can do about that? Why isn't NBN obliged to use the best available infrastructure instead of taking me off perfectly good HFC and downgrading me to fibre to the curb?
Well, obviously, I can't comment on your particular situation, and I can't comment on what NBN technology is going to use to your particular address. Obviously, the multi-technology mix that's there today means there isn't a completely standard NBN service across every single respondent in Australia. But we did note the recent announcement of further fiber to the home rollout, which I think will help address some of the sort of issues that you're referring to. But that really is in the hands of the NBN, unfortunately. We are no longer the provider of the fixed broadband network. And we have to go through NBN and use whatever technology mix they choose.
Next question is Suresh Waklu: "Technology query on 5G fixed wireless. Is it going to help mobile customers who get limited signal inside the building? NBN fixed wireless requires external antenna installed to overcome this. Will 5G not require this?
I'm not sure I hundred percent understand the question, but fixed wireless is designed to boost performance where a customer is... Well, it's designed for a lot of purposes, but one of the main areas it will be used is where a customer is perhaps not getting ideal broadband service through the NBN. And a fixed wireless antenna linking to the mobile network can provide a very comparable or improved broadband connection.
Our next question is from Graham Frank Roy: "As a sole trader in home business, when can I get 5G? Mathias Cormann says NBN is now complete. However, having waited for over three years and being only 25 kilometers from the GPO in Melbourne, I still do not have NBN. Telstra sends me mail saying I now have NBN via fiber to the curb, but the NBN has not told me this as yet. I was due to be completed between March and June 2020. I have written to the CEO twice and had no reply. Not impressed. Please give me some answers. Thank you, Graham.
I think we'd probably better have somebody contact you, which we will do after this meeting, 'cause I think we're confusing different issues here. 5G is independent of the NBN. The NBN is obviously a fixed broadband connection, whereas NBN is... The 5G is our mobile network and has no link to the other. But there's obviously some issue with NBN rollout in your area, so we'll make sure that somebody contacts you after this. You got that one, Ross?
Yes.
Yep, okay. Thank you.
Our next question is from Ernest Harris: "For years now, ASX, ASX information shows that there are always more sellers of Telstra shares in the market than buyers, and this despite the recommended price by analysts being always higher than the market value. What is the source of this constant excess of sellers? For example, does someone like the government hold a large bundle of shares, which is constantly being sold down?
Look, the buying and selling of shares is, it's a free market, and those who want to sell, sell, and those who want to buy, buy, so it's hard to comment on that. What I can say is, there is no large government shareholding anymore. There used to be, years gone by, with the Future Fund. That is no longer the case, so there's nobody selling shares en bloc, like it's been suggested there.
Chairman, another question from Suresh Waklu: "When will Telstra Platinum service be restored, at least to those who had the service prior to COVID?
Hmm. Andy, could I refer that one to you? I'm not sure I know the answer to that one.
Which, as I did, we did have some workforce capacity impacts as a consequence of very significant lockdowns that were imposed in some of the offshore locations, and that did impact our Platinum service. So therefore, we did suspend it. I'm pleased to say that service is back up and running, actually with effect from last week. And we obviously suspended any charges or otherwise to customers whilst it was temporarily suspended, but it should be back up and running now. So thank you, Chairman.
Thanks, Andy. Our next question is from Michael Bordenaro: "Profits have continued to fall. Where are new avenues of revenue coming from? Look at companies like Zoom. Why has your competitors, like Macquarie Telecom, growing their profits and share price, risen 400%?
Well, look, I think I've tried to address most of that. I can't obviously comment on individual competitor companies and their performance, but I would just reiterate the combination of the NBN and the loss of large-scale profit pools, like fixed voice, like SMS, et cetera. It's taken about AUD 6 billion of earnings out of net profit out of Telstra. And we've had to work extremely hard to start to rebuild that, which is what is happening through T22.
Chairman, we have a question from David Young: "Can you tell us how the investment in Foxtel is going?
Yes, so, the investment in Foxtel is going well. Andy and the team led a very successful sort of shareholding change and restructure, which was a good initiative, which was designed to ensure that Telstra needs access to media... Everyone's using a mobile phone or a tablet or a device, and so we need to have access to the best media and content on those devices, but we don't need to own film production companies or media companies to do that. The way Andy and the team restructured our arrangements with News Corp and Fox has, I think, been a great success.
We have access to excellent content, and in recent times, of course, COVID decimated Foxtel like everybody else, but in recent times, the launch of both the streaming service and also existing sports service, Kayo, has started to really explode again. So I think Foxtel's in a good place.
Thank you. We have a question from Judy Barnes: Can you please coordinate the 2021 AGM with CBA so that the shareholders are not forced to miss one of them?
Yeah, again, I think I just answered that one, but, again, we certainly do our best, but I would just reiterate, we set these dates several years in advance, and we're not aware necessarily of when another large company is going to pick their AGM date.
Our next question is from Alexander Lewis Rayner: With Australian borders closed to international visitors, what impact do you foresee on Telstra revenue?
Well, we don't depend heavily on the international movement of people, either Australians or international visitors, other than global roaming, which is probably the most significant area of impact. And I think Andy has outlined that that is significant, and the loss of global roaming revenue in this current year, we're projecting to be around AUD 200 million.
Our next question is from Steven Borness: Mr. Chairman, you have mentioned thrice that the loss of profits of AUD 6 billion was not in your control. Can you please explain clearly why it wasn't in your control, and further, how your so-called future optimality around InfraCo is impacted by this?
Yeah, sure. So the reference to the AUD 6 billion was that a government decision to create the NBN was not in Telstra's control, obviously, and that's taken the majority of that AUD 6 billion. That's AUD 3.5 billion of profits away from Telstra. It is what it is, and we have to react and do what we can about it, which is what we're doing. But that is not something that we can say management had any influence over or ability to influence. Then there are other profit pools, for instance, voice. It's not long ago that Telstra was earning over AUD 1 billion a year from voice calls. Today, we earn virtually nothing from voice calls.
It only seems a very short space of time, but it's only a few years ago, we used to earn AUD 1.2 billion a year from SMSs. We don't get any earnings from SMSs anymore. So those profit pools have disappeared, and that's why management are having to work exceptionally hard to try to replace those revenue streams.
Our next question is from Paul Frost: I recently experienced an appalling, poor transition of phone internet service to a new residence. Are directors doing anything to address the compartmentalized and dysfunctional work practices, which must be having an adverse impact on customer satisfaction and company earnings?
Obviously, Paul, I don't know the details of your particular transition and the trouble you've had. Again, somebody can follow up to try to help you on that. But your reference to compartmentalized and dysfunctional work practices, I would firstly question whether we had dysfunctional work practices, but we certainly did have compartmentalized ones. Telstra, and from its legacy days, was a more siloed structure. And part of T22 has been to change that dramatically, which I think all hail to management has been truly revolutionary. And I think from memory, we now have something like 40% of people working in agile teams, which are cross-functional teams across the enterprise, who would previously have worked in individual silos.
So a lot of effort has gone into addressing that point, which is a good one.
Our next question is from Steven Borness: Can you explain how Telstra Health fits into the broader strategy for Telstra, and particularly, what you see as Telstra's long-term competitive advantage in this industry? And given that, why not other industries, such as education?
Yes, Steven, that's a very, that's a very good question, too. So Telstra's interest in Telstra Health is not to become a doctor. It's not to. The board talk about not getting involved in blood, and so we're not trying to become an alternative medical service, but we are very interested in the complete digitization of the health services and practices across Australia. There's an enormous amount of data that's gathered by health services, obviously, from the starting with your prescription, going to the pharmacy, your GP, all the way through to maintaining national databases, et cetera.
That is a sweet spot for Telstra, and it's taken a year or two, but we've now built an extremely effective series of platforms, including the National Cancer Registry, and others, and we expect that to continue at a considerable rate. And you're right, there are other parallels, like education, and potentially other areas where one would say perhaps the same use of data collection and distribution of data is relevant, and we are continually looking at those other opportunities as well.
I've got a question from Francis Leo Connolly: Thank you for your frank discussion of losing AUD 6.5 billion of profit, which revealed that the sophisticated board and sophisticated management of one of Australia's largest companies, overwhelmingly dominating its sector, misread the environment and made fundamentally poor decisions. What lessons were learned, and what changes to Telstra board, management, and culture have been driven by the board to ensure that the company does not make those mistakes or others like them again?
... This, look, not a very objective comment, but I'll try to respond to it anyway. We didn't make the decision to introduce the NBN. So I think to say that we misread the environment and made a fundamentally poor decision is more than a little harsh. What is, I think, certainly relevant is that the speed of change in technology and is something that a board and management have got to stay really right across, and there's no industry where that's more prevalent than in our industry. The speed, the change, some of those examples I gave, and it's only what, 10 years ago, I think, that the smartphone was invented.
And now it's a ubiquitous part of our daily life. So board and management have got to be across all of those trends, and we are doing our very best to make sure that we are dealing with today's problems, but also looking forward to the technology changes of tomorrow in so far as we can guess them.
Chairman, we have no more questions at this time.
Fantastic. In that case, we have now finalized our discussion on this item. Our next item then is item three, director election and re-election. As I mentioned earlier, Peter Hearl, Bridget Loudon, and Elana Rubin are all standing for election or re-election, and I'm also standing for re-election today. Each of the items three A to three D will be voted on separately, and details of each candidate are set out in the notice of meeting. To assist with the efficient conduct of the meeting, I'll deal with the election of Peter, Bridget, and Elana together, and then I'll hand the chair over to Craig Dunn to deal with my re-election. If you have any questions on these items, please submit your questions now. We'll now hear from Peter, Bridget, and Elana through a short video addressed to you all.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, fellow shareholders. My name is Peter Hearl, and I'm seeking your support for my re-election to the Telstra board for a third term. Since I addressed you three years ago, Telstra has undergone and continues to undergo a dramatic and industry-leading transformation of our business. Working closely with Andy and his management team, your board, under John's chairmanship, is overseeing one of the most ambitious strategies in the history of the telecommunications industry. John and Andy have already spoken in detail on the progress that has been made and continues to be made against all aspects of our game-changing T-22 strategy. Despite the challenges presented by government regulation, competition, technological disruption, the bushfires of last summer, and more recently, the global COVID pandemic.
Throughout these challenges, it has been my great privilege to be part of one of the hardest working and cohesive boards with which I have been associated. It's also been my honor to have been a member of the People and Remuneration Committee since February 2015, and to have chaired that committee since April 2016. As a non-executive director, I believe I bring a wide range of experiences from over 35 years of corporate life around the world, including Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with Exxon, PepsiCo, and Yum Brands. Coupled with non-executive roles both here and overseas during the past two decades. As a former fast-moving consumer goods executive, I continue to have a passion for ensuring our customer experiences are best in class and that our culture and people practices continue to attract, develop, retain, and reward world-class talent.
Should you choose to re-elect me, I believe my experiences, skill set, and energy will allow me to continue to have meaningful input into the company's direction and enable me to represent all Telstra stakeholders' best interests. Thank you.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Bridget Loudon. I'm deeply honored to be nominated to join the Telstra board, and it's a pleasure to address you here today. I was born here in Australia, but spent most of my childhood in Ireland. I returned to the lucky country at the age of 21, and I'm proud to call Australia home. My background is a mix of entrepreneurship, technology, and big business. I've built this experience through my time at consulting firm, Bain & Company, as well as through building my own organizations over the past 15 years. The latest of which, Expert360, I'm currently the founder and CEO. From a young age, I've been inspired by the power of technology to transform what is possible in our personal and working lives. Telstra is on a bold journey of transformation.
On the Telstra board, I will bring a deep focus on the lives, experiences, hopes, and challenges of our customers. I also hope to bring a natural instinct for how great technology products get built and how companies can prepare for the future. Thank you for your time and your attention. I look forward to contributing. With that, I kindly ask for your support for my election to the board.
Good morning. My name is Elana Rubin. It's a privilege to be involved in the governance of organizations, so thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. Boards play an important role in the performance and governance of organizations. Today, more than ever, boards are important in ensuring that the voice of shareholders, customers, and the community are considered. I believe that organizations that have regard to the needs of all stakeholders are best placed to deliver sustained long-term performance. I've been a non-executive director for over 20 years across a wide range of sectors, including financial services, technology, and infrastructure. One thing I look for are companies with a sense of purpose.
My pleasure in being invited to join the board of Telstra reflects not only that Telstra is an iconic Australian company and a leader in its field, but also that it, too, has a strong sense of purpose: to build a connected future where everyone can thrive. I reflect on Telstra's response to the current COVID situation, our care for our employees, our efforts to extend connectivity to our customers, and to assist the vulnerable. I reflect on these initiatives, among others, with a strong sense of pride. I believe that my experience as a non-executive director across a range of sectors, always with a shareholder and customer focus, will add value to the board as we navigate the challenges of our sector, and also as we consider the emerging issues of sustainability, climate change, diversity, new ways of working, just to mention a few.
With your support, I look forward to being elected as a director of Telstra. Thank you.
Thank you very much, colleagues. So the board, other than Peter, Bridget, and Elana, in respect to their own election, recommends their election. I will now take any questions which have been submitted in relation to Peter's re-election or Bridget and Elana's election. Ross, are there any questions on three A, B, or D?
Chairman, we have no questions at this time.
Great, thank you. In that case, we have now finalized our discussion, and the proxy and direct voting position for items 3A, 3B, and 3D are being shown on the screen. As indicated in the notice of meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of Peter's re-election and in favor of Bridget and Elana's election. If you haven't already done so, please submit your vote for items 3A, B, and D. In a minute, I'll hand the chair over to Craig Dunn, Chairman of your Audit and Risk Committee, who is here with me in Sydney, to chair the meeting for the item dealing with my re-election. Before I do, I would like to just say a few quick words.
I have had the great honor of being chairman of Telstra since 2016, and a director since 2008. Telstra is a fascinating company with an absolutely unique role in Australian society and the changing world around us. Leadership at Telstra comes with great responsibility, not just to deliver the best financial and operational performance possible for shareholders, but also to ensure that Telstra plays a critically important role in supporting the country and the community. As a director, I sincerely hope that I've been able to play a part in ensuring that this responsibility has been properly discharged.
My role as Chairman is to work with the board to ensure that management is held to account, to deliver both this performance for shareholders as well as the community, but it is also our role to ensure that we attract, motivate, and reward the best management team we can find. And again, I sincerely hope that I and my colleagues have been able to strike that balance. If re-elected today, I will continue to strive to ensure that you have the strongest board of directors and the strongest management team in our industry, and that with the impact of the NBN finally almost behind us, Telstra starts to grow again and remains the best telco in Australia and one of the very best in the world.
Thank you very much for that, and I will now step down from the chair and invite Craig Dunn to chair the meeting for item 3C. Craig.
Great. Thank you, John, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Item three C is to consider the re-election of John Mullen. So, shareholders, if you haven't already done so, please submit any questions you may have in relation to John's re-election. As John just mentioned, he has been on the board since 2008, and has been chairman since 2016. John is an outstanding chairman, and the board, other than, of course, John, fully supports and recommends his re-election to shareholders. In recommending John's re-election, the board considered a number of important factors, including John's performance as a director and indeed as chairman.
The skills, experience, and leadership he provides to the board and to Telstra as we continue to execute on our T22 strategy, and the importance of continuity on the board, especially in light of the significant changes to the board's composition in recent times and the current COVID-19 environment. The board also considered John's length of time as chairman and also as a director. Notwithstanding John's length of service, the board believes he continues to be independent and brings invaluable experience and expertise to the board, particularly in the current, very challenging environment. We have received questions about John's workload and his other commitments. John, of course, is very conscious of the time needed to fulfill his role as chairman and as a Telstra director, and the board has no concerns regarding his capacity to do just that.
Telstra and its shareholders are very well served by John as chairman, and once again, the board fully supports and recommends his re-election. We also received the following question from Sue Shields, representing the Australian Shareholders Association. I'll read that out to you now, and I'll ask you to respond, John. So the ASA will vote for your re-election. However, John, you had spent 8 years on the board prior to becoming chairman in 2016, and have now served more than 12 years, which exceeds ASA guidelines for independence... Your time in the chair has seen a significant fall in the share price and dividends for the retail shareholders we represent. Mr. Penn was appointed a year earlier and has presided over an even greater decline. There is little doubt that Telstra has faced challenges which appear set to continue.
So, John, can you advise of a succession plan for both you and Mr. Penn and the timeline for its implementation? So John, over to you.
Thanks. Thanks, Craig, and thank you, Sue, for your question. Look, firstly, I've already commented on Telstra's share price, I think in my opening remarks, and the fact that NBN alone is taking some AUD 3.5 billion out of EBITDA, and it's just inevitable that this will impose a huge drag on our dividend and share price. And that's why we initiated the T22 strategy to dramatically transform the company to be in a strong position post the rollout of the NBN. And we're very well progressed on that journey, as we've shared with you today. Then moving to the board and senior management renewal and succession question, this has been one of my key focuses during my time as chairman.
Firstly, I really do believe that we have an excellent board and senior management team. We've recruited some very talented telecommunications professionals as directors. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, Elana Rubin and Bridget Loudon's appointments in February and August this year have added to the really great experience that we now have on the board. As you heard from Andy, he's also recruited two first-class new executives this year and also has now a really strong and diverse senior management team. We genuinely believe that we have one of the best management teams in the industry. Now, both Andy and I are totally committed to delivering T22 successfully. Then, as we near the end of T22, our thoughts will turn to an orderly succession in due course. Right now, our focus remains on this critical challenge.
Great. Thanks, John. So, Ross, I think we'll now take any questions which may have been submitted in relation to John's re-election and have come to us through the portal. So are there any questions, Ross?
Thank you, Craig. We have one question from Brett: Since 2016, the share price has continued to fall year on year. What will you do for the shareholders to turn this around?
All right, so thank you for that question. So I think John has comprehensively, comprehensively covered the factors influencing the share price and dividend. I think John's also made it clear that T22, how significant it is to the future strategic success of Telstra, and it's important in improving financial performance over time. John's also mentioned how comprehensive that change program, one of the most comprehensive telco transformation programs in the world, and I don't think we could have a better leader than John to lead the oversight of the board's governance of that program. Any further questions, Ross?
No, no more questions, Craig.
Great. Okay, so that means we've finalized discussion of this item, and the proxy and direct voting position is now being shown on your screen. And as indicated in the notice of the meeting, as chair of this part of the meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies on this item in favor of John's re-election. So, please submit your vote for item 3C now. And as we've now finalized this item, I'll pass back the chair to John. Thanks, John.
Great. Thanks very much, Craig. So, I'll now move to item four, which is to consider the adoption of a new constitution as outlined on your screen. Shareholders, if you have any questions on this item, please submit them now. This item does require a special resolution, and that means that at least 75% of the votes cast by shareholders must be in favor of the resolution for the proposed new constitution to be adopted today. I have signed a copy of the new constitution for the purposes of identification, and I now table that document at this meeting. Shareholders can download a copy from the Downloads box in the meeting portal. That is the signed document.
The reason that we are bringing this to shareholders is simply because our constitution has been largely unchanged since 2006, and since then, there have been a number of developments in law, in the ASX listing rules, corporate governance principles, and general corporate and commercial practice for ASX-listed entities. The purpose of this resolution is to update our constitution to reflect these developments and to support Telstra in the administration of the company and our relationships with you, our shareholders. The board considers the most appropriate way to effect this is to adopt a completely new constitution, rather than try to amend our current one in a piecemeal way. Many of the proposed changes are simply administrative or relatively minor in nature, and the key differences between our current constitution and the new constitution are outlined in the notice of meeting.
The board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the adoption of the new constitution, and I'll now take any questions which have been submitted for this item. Ross, have we got any questions on this one?
Yes, we have one question, Chairman, from Lisa Morrison: If this resolution is not successful, how will this impact Telstra and future progression?
Yeah, so if this motion is not successful, we'll just continue with our existing constitution, so it won't actually make any change day to day, but it does mean we will have an increasingly clunky and unwieldy and old-fashioned constitution, which, as an example, does not deal with virtual AGMs like we're dealing with today, and a lot of the other changes of technology. So it won't affect anything, no, but it would be a retrograde step.
We have no more questions, Chairman.
Great. Thank you. So we've now finished discussion of this item, and the proxy and direct voting position is being shown on your screen. As indicated in the notice of meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the adoption of the new constitution. Please submit your vote for item four now. I now turn to item five on today's agenda, which is to consider the grant of restricted shares and performance rights to the CEO, Andy Penn, under the Telstra Financial Year 2020 Executive Variable Remuneration Plan, or EVP, as outlined on your screen. Shareholders, if you have any questions on this item, please submit them now. Details of the proposed grants are set out in the notice of meeting. In summary, number of restricted shares and performance rights to be granted was based on the dollar value of the CEO's individual EVP outcome.
The CEO's individual EVP outcome was determined, taking into consideration both Telstra's performance during the 2020 financial year against the specific measures set by the board, as well as his individual performance. The board, other than Andy Penn, of course, considers the grants of restricted shares and performance rights to the CEO to be appropriate in all the circumstances, and recommends shareholders vote in favor of items 5A and 5B. I will now take any questions which have been submitted for these items. Ross, are there any questions?
Chairman, there are no questions.
Good. So we have now finalized discussion of these items, and the proxy and direct voting position is being shown on your screen. As indicated in the notice of meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of the grants to the CEO. So please submit your vote now for items 5A and 5B. I now turn to item six on today's agenda, which is to consider the adoption of the remuneration report for the year ended 30th of June, 2020. Our 2020 remuneration report contains information about our remuneration policy and strategy, about the remuneration arrangements for non-executive directors, the CEO, and certain members of senior management, and the remuneration they received for the 2020 financial year, and how we seek to align executive remuneration with company performance.
This item provides an opportunity for shareholders to comment on and to ask questions about our report. While the vote on this item is advisory, the board takes the outcome of the vote into consideration when reviewing Telstra's remuneration practices and policies. Shareholders, if you haven't already done so, please submit any questions you have about our 2020 remuneration report now. While you're doing that, we will address an issue on the topic of remuneration, which was raised by shareholders before the meeting.
Chairman, we received a question from a shareholder asking, "Why has his price halved, yet salaries never have?
Well, thank you to the shareholder for that question. Firstly, I'd actually say salaries have halved. If you look at Andy Penn's remuneration, it is about half what David Thodey earned when the share price was at its height, so there is actually a direct correlation. But secondly, share price cannot be the only metric by which we evaluate management's performance. I just fundamentally reject that. You know, external factors can mean that you have a reduction in the share price, despite outstanding management performance, just as you can have an increase in the share price despite mediocre management performance. And secondly, you know, the CEO and senior executives receive about 75% of their variable-- Not about, exactly 75% of their variable remuneration today in the form of shares.
So if the share price declines, then this directly affects their remuneration in the same way as it affects you. And there is... Really, there's no easy answer to achieving perfect alignment, but we do think that we've got the balance as right as we can. Ross, then I think, turn now to any questions which have been submitted in the portal. Are there any, further questions?
Chairman, there are no questions in the portal.
Good. So we have now finalized discussion of this item as well, and the proxy and direct voting position is being shown on your screen. As indicated in the notice of meeting, I intend to vote all available proxies in favor of this item, so please submit your vote for item six now. Shareholders, I am about to finalize item six and conclude the meeting. If you have any final questions you'd like to ask about your company that are relevant to shareholders as a whole, please submit those questions now. Russ, do we have any final questions?
Yes, we do, Chairman. We have one from Edward Amar: "What was the price NBN paid for Telstra Copper Network? What did Telstra do with the money?
Well, the total NPV of the creation of the NBN, I'm trying to remember exactly now, going back, it was about AUD 11 billion, as I recall. And of that, that was broken into about AUD 4 billion for the PSAA payments, which is a replacement of lost customers, about AUD 5 billion for infrastructure usage, and about another AUD 2 billion odd for the other activities like the USO and the like. We have committed to returning approximately 75% of those proceeds to shareholders, which we are doing.
I have another question, Chairman, from Michael Bordenaro: "Mr. Chairman, you continue to blame the NBN for the fallen profits. It's been five years of profit declines. What are you doing to find new revenue streams? Have you looked at developing data storage centers to get new revenue streams?
Yeah, so firstly, we're not blaming anything on anybody. We're just making a simple statement that if you, by government decree, lose close to half your net profit, it's gonna impact the company. And that's the only reason I raised that. Management then have a big task to replace those earnings, which is what they're trying to do. The whole T22 program is aimed at addressing the impact of technology change and the NBN, and we're well down the track of doing that. We are developing new streams of revenue. For instance, our NAS revenue didn't even exist a few years ago. We've made great progress with that, improving the margin up to some 17% of whatever was achieved this year, from zero.
We've got new businesses altogether, like Telstra Health, that I've already commented on. So the management team are working extremely hard to replace those lost revenues.
Chairman, I have a question from Richard Kinlough : "What is happening with your email platform? In my area, it is unreliable and slow with many timeouts. It is reported on your outage site that this is an issue commencing 2 months ago, 10th of August, with a resolution not provided, to be confirmed. Is this an issue that is receiving senior management attention, or is it an operational matter being handled normally?
Yeah, obviously, I'm not familiar with your particular, individual instance, but, in August, one of the servers that supports the BigPond webmail did fail, which caused slower and less reliable service. I understand that no emails have been lost, but customers did experience considerable delays, and the fix has taken longer than we would have liked. But, I'm pleased to say that we're now seeing a large improvement, and most of those delays have declined, or disappeared. On top of that, it is very much on management's agenda to continue not just the incremental improvements, but to material infrastructure improvements to the BigPond platform going forward.
Thank you. We now have a question from David James: "Dear Board, could you please provide an overview of how Telstra reviews and plans to monetize the significant but low written down value of hard assets such as ducts and pits on the balance sheet? Given the prime geographical location of these assets, there must be value able to be extracted from these assets.
What's happening with the NBN, so we are receiving close to AUD 1 billion a year of income from the NBN, a large portion of which is for the use of ducts, pits, and lines, et cetera, that are previously owned by Telstra.
Our next question is from Ernest Harris: "I support the appointment of two new ladies introducing a new thought process to the board, but my immediate response is that they are both conservative persons. Please cast the net wider and look for an innovative, free-thinking, sometimes confronting person, not afraid to think totally outside the box. Comment, please.
Well, firstly, I wouldn't say that to either Elana or Bridget face-to-face. I think the very last adjective they would probably consider themselves as being conservative and not innovative and free-thinking. It's actually the complete opposite. The very reason we're so delighted to have both of them on the board is that they are innovative and free-thinking and bring a different view to the board's lineup of older people like myself, and if I dare say, Craig and some of my colleagues. I'm absolutely delighted to have people with a radically different background, experience, and viewpoint. I think they're gonna add huge value to the board in challenging us in some of our old more conservative ways, because I would not say that either of them are conservative. The very opposite.
Thank you. Our next question's from Richard Kim Loan, who's asked earlier questions: "Why is the broadband service being offered by Telstra over the NBN is inferior to what we have now with HFC? The answer provided by the chairman was that this is an NBN, not a Telstra issue. That is not my understanding. Competitors to Telstra will sell me a 100 Mbps service over NBN fiber to the curb, but Telstra will only sell me a 50 Mbps service. I'm currently on HFC and enjoying in excess of 100 Mbps, and I am not looking forward to having to reduce speed or leaving Telstra for a competitor.
Yeah, but that's... You touched on one of the issues that the whole industry obviously has, that if you were previously on an HFC link, and if you were to elect the bottom tier of speed, a 12 Mbps download speed, you would receive an inferior service going forward. That is one of the reasons why Telstra discontinued offering the 12 and went and only offered the higher speeds. So again, Telstra does not dictate the choice of technology that the NBN uses to your premises. We have to sell services over the choice of technology that the NBN has adopted.
At this time, Chairman, I have no more questions.
Great. Well, in that case, shareholders, that concludes the formal business of the meeting today. If you haven't already done so, please submit your vote now. The poll will remain open for a further 10 minutes to enable shareholders to submit their votes, and the results of the poll on items 3 to 6 will be available later today and can be obtained by visiting the ASX or our websites. I now declare the meeting closed, subject to finalization of the poll. Thank you, shareholders, for joining us online today and embracing this new way of holding our AGM in these unusual times. And thank you also to all the tech team who have worked so hard, over the last weeks to make sure this all happens without a hitch.
At this point, of course, normally my board colleagues and I would be joining many of you for some lunch and a cup of tea, and I'm really sorry that this year that won't be possible. But on behalf of the board, I hope that you and all those you care about stay safe and well. Thank you very much for your attention.