"Telstra first took this legal action based on the principle that governments should act transparently and be accountable when they spend taxpayers' money," said Phil Burgess, group managing director, public policy and communications. "Taxpayers and Telstra shareholders are still in the dark about a selection program supervised by the previous government that cost nearly $1 billion dollars of public money," Dr Burgess said. An Optus spokesman said the Broadband Connect process was open, transparent and competitive.