It is in sharp contrast to a little over 18 months ago when the country's largest infrastructure project was seen as an unfolding nightmare largely as a result of infighting, a split board and a hostile relationship between the then Labor government, Telstra and NBN Co.

With the deal now completed to acquire Telstra's copper network and hybrid-fibre coaxial (HFC), the cable that currently delivers pay television to homes, the next big thing will be putting out for tender billions of dollars worth of contracts to design, build and maintain the broadband network.

A key difference to the previous tendering process is that Telstra will be part of the tender process. And as it has 110 years' experience operating the copper network and 20 years' experience operating HFC it stands a good chance of winning a good portion of the work.

It is early days, but to put it into perspective, capital expenditure is estimated at $30 billion for the project.

It is believed to be a key incentive behind Telstra's willingness to hand over the copper network and HFC at the same $11 billion net present value as agreed under the previous contract, which involved Telstra disconnecting premises as the NBN rolled out and then decommissioning the networks.

As Telstra boss David Thodey said: "As a result, our shareholders have been kept whole in terms of the transaction they approved in October 2011."

For shareholders, Telstra has been the mother lode of good fortune in recent years. Fat dividends, a rising share price over the past four years, coupled with a strong balance sheet, come at a time of massive change in global communications. The latest deal reinforces its reputation with shareholders.

Under the new 2000-page contract, Telstra will continue to disconnect premises but NBN Co will use the copper and HFC networks to deliver a national broadband service.

Similar deals for Testra and Optus

The faster Telstra switches over, the quicker it gets paid. It is a similar story for Optus, which will receive an estimated net present value north of $800 million for its HFC.

The expectation is that by the end of 2020 there will be 8 million end users, which means cash flows for NBN Co.

Part of the dissolving of the hostilities between Telstra and NBN Co was the move to work together on its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) trial, which involves 200,000 premises. As only 300,000 premises are beneficiaries of the rollout over the past six years, the test is relatively hefty.

It augurs well for the relationship to move to a grander scale in terms of Telstra planning, designing, constructing and providing maintenance services on commercial terms.

It makes sense for Telstra to play a role in the rollout of the national broadband network, given the history NBN Co has had with some of its contractors.

For instance, Syntheo, a joint venture with Service Stream and Lend Lease, pulled out of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Silcar, another contractor, was forced to absorb more than $60 million in writedowns from its exposure to the NBN and rumours were rife last year that other construction contractors were planning to renegotiate contracts due to cost blowouts.

Rolling out a national broadband network across the country is complex, particularly managing the switching of customers from one carrier to another, and explains why most countries seek involvement from the incumbent carrier in the rollout.

Besides potentially raking in billions of dollars in additional revenue from the NBN by tapping into its contract management expertise, a close working relationship with NBN Co will help manage political risk – something Telstra knew only too well under former chief Sol Trujillo.

Assuming Telstra wins some of the contracts, Optus will undoubtedly keep a close eye on the specifics of the deal to ensure informal information flows between its archrival and NBN Co don't happen.

Managing to get a deal across the line is a big win for the Abbott government at a time when it doesn't seem to be able to turn a trick.

Turnbull in strong position

It puts Turnbull in a strong position as everything has gone according to plan. He has been behind changes to the management at NBN Co, a massive overhaul of the board, including the appointment of former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski as chairman and the appointment of Bill Morrow, the former boss of Vodafone, as the head of the company.

Turnbull had blamed the previous board and executive team for the massive cost blowouts, timetable delays and contractors who had lost money. It gave an insight to the task facing him as he moved to implement the Coalition's vastly different plan for the project, which involved switching from a fibre-to-the-home network to a far cheaper fibre-to-the-node, which will require massive changes to contracts and relationships with contractors, Telstra and other networks.

As NBN's Morrow said, it gives the company more flexibility to decide which is the best way to go in various areas: fibre to the home, fibre to the node using cable, HFC or wireless.

Under Dr Switkowski, three separate reviews and an audit of NBN Co were completed to ensure the company had a proper costing and strategic direction.

For the country it means industry can move faster into the digital age, which is a key part of boosting productivity and surviving as new business models emerge.

The former Labor Government's fibre to the home was good in theory but it was decided on in 2008 before the global financial crisis, when the resources boom was hitting its straps. It never underwent a cost-benefit analysis and many of the contracts were described as "ramshackle".

Fast-forward to today and the mining boom is over, the budget deficit needs to be brought under control, the rollout was well behind schedule, and costs were blowing out to an estimated $60 billion – and growing.

Morrow estimates the current strategy shaves at least four years off the completion date. Given the constant breakthroughs in software that can be put over copper and HFC – and wireless for that matter– to rev up the speeds, there is an argument that the hybrid model was always more sensible.

Broadband, or high-speed internet access, is the main game. It will determine the shape of the winners and losers over the next decade. It will determine how Australians communicate with one another and the rest of the world. Making the wrong choice will kill a company and have a domino effect on the economy.

There is still a long way to go, but at least we are heading in the right direction.