Sealing the deal on the national broadband network project appears to require more time than first thought as Telstra Corporation informed its shareholders that its discussions with the federal government has been delayed.

Telstra had initially projected that the deal would be finalised before the end of the current year but in a letter sent to shareholders on Wednesday, the telecommunication firm said that plans have changed and talks are still on going with NBN Co.

Telstra, however, gave assurance that the delay would be slight as it explained that "due to a number of key NBN Co and Government decisions remaining outstanding or taking longer than expected," wrapping up the deal much earlier would be impossible at this time.

Also, the telco firm reasoned that the bit delay may be necessary and more time for negotiations would be required as "these are important issues for consumers and the industry, and critical to the value of our agreement with NBN Co, so we understand the need for the Government to take additional time to consider all their implications."

Despite the delay, Telstra remains optimistic that a formal agreement would be forged soon enough for shareholders' approval by the middle part of next year.

Once all glitches and issues are ironed out, Telstra is set to receive at least $9 billion from NBN Co to serve as payment for the giant telco firm's deal with the government to decommission its exiting copper network.

More incentives are forthcoming as Telstra is also required by the agreement to lease its telecommunication infrastructure for use in rolling out the NBN project.

Telstra informed it shareholders in the same letter that the company's prospect on the NBN deal has become clearer in light of the public release of the NBN business plan, which it said shed light to contentious issues such as wholesale and retail pricing and the number of exchanges to be established.

Furthermore, Telstra explained that the law calling for the company's structural separation would not lead to an artificial and expensive split of its wholesale and retail business operations as the deal would effectively vouch for the decommissioning and eventual migration of Telstra's service offerings to NBN.