It appears that the federal government has overcome another hurdle on its ongoing campaign to split up giant telecommunication firm Telstra Corporation Ltd in preparation for the full roll out of its National Broadband Network (NBN).

A report by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) on Friday revealed that Family First Senator Steve Fielding has dropped his opposition to the proposed telco industry reform, further bolstering the efforts of Prime Minister Julia Gillard to ensure the successful implementation of her government's broadband project.

The change of heart, according to the report, happened after Senator Fielding's meeting with Telstra chief executive David Thodey, NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, all leading personalities of the government's initiatives for reforms in the industry.

The AFR said that Senator Fielding gave his conditional backing for the structural re-design of Telstra as he was allegedly convinced during the meeting that "there's not the same gun against Telstra's head."

Prior to throwing his support behind the Telstra division and maybe technically for the implementation of the controversial NBN project, Senator Fielding stressed that "I wanted to make sure that there was a fair negotiation between the players and that appears to have been held."

Analysts said that the recruitment of the Family First senator came as a blow for the Coalition's campaign against the government proposal to divide the telco firm as part of its effort to reform the industry and pave the way for the billion-dollar NBN roll out.

The switch also meant that Senator Fielding's vote could not be counted by the opposition who vowed to block the telecommunication reform bill in the Senate, thereby losing another voice on the Coalition's spirited efforts to oppose the government's NBN program.