NBN Co appeals $200m Telstra CPI judgment

NBN Co has lodged an appeal against a NSW Supreme Court decision which found in favour of Telstra in a $200 million pricing dispute over how much NBN Co should pay to access the telco's infrastructure.

Telstra took NBN Co to court late last year after the pair failed to reach agreement on when the consumer price index (CPI) for payments in the pair's $9 billion definitive agreements contract - related to access to Telstra's pits, pipes, ducts and exchanges - should begin.

Telstra successfully argued the CPI (which is refreshed each January) should apply for payments from 1 January 2012, given the NBN Co contract was signed in 2011.

But despite the court siding with Telstra, NBN Co will continue to argue in an appeal against the decision that since the structural separation undertaking commenced in March 2012, the CPI should apply from January 1 2013.

The difference in the CPI calculations is worth $200 million. 

NBN Co indicated at the time it would likely appeal the decision, and today said it had lodged an appeal in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

“NBN Co has carefully considered a range of factors in deciding on this course of action, including the potential impact on taxpayers of the judgment at first instance," NBN Co spokesperson Karina Keisler said.

A Telstra spokesperson said the telco would continue to exercise its legal rights in the case.

"We have one take on the contract and NBN Co has another."