Telstra has selected the boss of rail and ports operator Asciano as its new chairman to oversee the mobile giant's growth, particularly in Asia.
John Mullen has been a Telstra director since July 2008 and will take over from longstanding chairman Catherine Livingstone in the next few months.
Ms Livingstone said the timing was right to enable a new chairman to drive Telstra's continued growth as a world-class technology company.
In close to seven years as chairman, the 60-year-old has been instrumental in the telco's return to market dominance, its share price resurgence, and the rebuilding of its prickly relationship with the federal government over the rollout of the national broadband network.
Ms Livingstone is also ending a 15-year stint as a director at Telstra.
"It has been an extraordinary period of my life to have been part of the team which helped Telstra set a new direction after having transitioned from a corporatised then privatised organisation," she said.
"We are now able to consider new growth opportunities alongside our traditional core businesses, looking to extend our footprint in ways that are consistent with creating long term shareholder value."
Telstra's transition comes as the company continues to improve its core mobile network amid increasing competition from Optus and Vodafone.
Investors are anxiously awaiting the outcome of Telstra's talks with beer and food giant San Miguel about setting up a third mobile player in the Philippines, which has one of the lowest mobile network speeds in the world.
Andrew Penn, who took over as Telstra chief executive on May 1, wants to replicate the expansion success he had in Asia with financial giant AXA Asia Pacific.
But there are some investor concerns that the company could spend too much money, given its chequered history in Asia.
Telstra last week reported flat interim net profit of $2.09 billion as a 7.6 per cent rise in revenue was offset by a 14 per jump in operating expenses.
Ms Livingstone said the latest board reshuffle is "part of a very orderly and planned process for setting Telstra up for as much success in the next phase as its had in the last."
Mr Mullen will take up his new role once he is free from his obligations at Asciano, which is currently the target of a $9.05 billion takeover offer from a large consortium.
The 60-year-old declined to comment on Telstra's strategic direction, saying it was not appropriate to comment before he takes the helm.
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