"For me this is actually an interesting sort of blackmail."

The tactic, according to Hackett, relies on the ACCC's priority to look out for the long-term interest of end-users. The question comes down to the importance of the NBN in the eyes of the regulator in terms its benefit to consumers.

"Is the NBN existing at all worth more or less than Telstra being able to re-monopolise the copper terrain while we all wait for the NBN?" Hackett asked. "Is it better to have the NBN in a decimated competitive environment than to not have the NBN at all?"

NBN Co has offered Telstra $11 billion to decommission its copper network and migrate customers onto the NBN, but the telco still retains ownership of the copper. Hackett believes NBN Co should have spent the $11 billion buying the assets to prevent Telstra gaining the upper hand in the future.

He also took the opportunity to reaffirm his stance against plans to implement 121 points of interconnect (PoIs) for the NBN, suggesting it is not too late to go back to the original plan of 14 PoIs.