Investors eye T3 sale details

The Federal Government will today launch the prospectus for the third sell-off of its Telstra shares.

Potential investors will receive the prospectus today ahead of the share offer on October 23.

The Government will sell $8 billion worth of its shares over the next two months and keep the rest in the Future Fund to be sold down over time.

Telstra's shares are worth about half of what they were when T2 was sold seven years ago.

They have since gained about 8 per cent, closing at $3.83 on Friday.

A $20 million Government-funded advertising campaign about the T3 sale also begins today.

Opposition

New South Wales Deputy Premier John Watkins says the sell-off will badly impact services in the bush.

"We know the sell off of Telstra is unpopular across Australia and that it will impact negatively on communication services in country New South Wales," he said.

"It's a big warning about the unchecked power of the Federal Government because John Howard can only push ahead with this unpopular flogging off of Telstra because no-one in the House of Representatives or in the Senate in Canberra can stop him."