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Early troubles with its new XT network, fierce competition and on-going regulatory battles made the first half of 2010 one to forget for NZ's leading telco.
By May its shares had touched a record low of $1.85 and the headwinds just seemed too much for many investors.
However over the course of the winter months Telecom appeared to be quietly turning things around and putting the difficulties behind it.
Firstly, it put an end to the technical problems with XT and thereby ended the negative headlines.
Secondly it put a renewed focus on how it would get a slice of the government's $1.5 billion ultra fast broadband rollout.
Central to these plans was its pledge to consider splitting its infrastructure arm Chorus and retail business into two separate companies.
A essential move, as Crown Fibre Holdings - which is running the tender process for the network - can't accept bids from telecommunications companies that have both retail and infrastructure arms.
Proposing to split a company in two is a dramatic move at the best of times, however while investors and analysts were wary, it seemed at the very least to accept the rationale behind the proposal.
Being outside the UFB tent or setting up a rival network doesn't seem like a very palatable option.
So by the beginning of September shares in the company had staged a mini-recovery, climbing to as high as $2.14. Still a long way shy of the 12 month high of $2.80, but a recovery nonetheless.
Hard work undone
However a lot of that hard fought ground was undone yesterday when Crown Fibre Holdings announced it would be entering negotiations with three regional fibre companies for the first chunk of the broadband network, not Telecom.
This first chunk covers the areas of Whangarei, Timaru and a large part of the central North Island, about 18% of the potential broadband market.
The big prizes of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch still remain very much up for grabs and Telecom could of course easily win them as a shortlisted company.
However the decision yesterday was a blow to Telecom, as it had been pinning its hopes on an extensive nationwide proposal that would see it lead the UFB rollout and also the rural broadband initiative.
As Dr Paul Winton at Temple Capital Investment said on NZI Business , CFH has now signalled that it doesn't want to play Telecom's game and let it lead the process.
He says it is instead going to push ahead with allocating contracts for the network in a piecemeal way. So Telecom is going to have to now fight for each remaining region bit by bit just like all the other players.
As a result shares in Telecom fell around 5% yesterday, back to $2.02.
Telecom committed
The company says it's evaluating Crown Fibre Holding's decision and that it remained committed to its nationwide approach.
However Winton says Telecom must now rethink its strategy and look to work more closely with the regional players that have won contracts and in much that same way that Telecom's existing wholesale division has learnt to co-operate with other competitors lately.
Winton says this is vital as New Zealand needs Telecom to be in the game on UFB and it has a lot to offer.
For the government, yesterday's announcement by CFH is welcome.
As Winton says, it ticks all the political boxes in terms of making sure the broadband rollout is done on time.
And if you think broadband isn't a big political issue? Take a look across the Tasman, in the end it was Labor's comprehensive broadband plan that probably got it across the line with the key independents.
A warning for the government, that if it was to mess up the process here, it could easily become a headache in election year.
So however it looks to be well on track so far.....we'll see.
Read more of Corin's blogs here
