It was recently forwarded by TelstraClear chief executive Allan Freeth that though he has not yet witnessed any notable growth in the economy, the company was able to increase its revenues and profits due to strong demand for broadband.

A rise by 2.8 per cent was seen in the sales for the year to $703 million, while profit before interest and taxation more than doubled to $18m.

Chief Financial Officer Michael Boggs holds the viewpoint that net profit would be considerably up on last year's $21.8m. It was acknowledged by Mr Boggs that there was long way to go for parent Telstra to get an appropriate return on its investment.

The decision taken by the company to not to respond to the downturn by cutting back on advertising and promotions proved to be beneficial.

TelstraClear, which saw consumer sales going up 20%, had doubled its number of new broadband customers. Mr. Freeth said: "People aren't prepared to give up their broadband, or their mobiles or texting. It seems to be a very important part of their lifestyle."

Since some small firms succumbed to the recession, growth in consumer sales offset the impact of "customer churn" in the business market.

Freeth continued: "We saw throughout this year a lot of pain. I think that has blown down in terms of receiverships, but what we are not seeing is any strong confidence."

It should be noted that capital expenditure was cut by Telstra from $113m to $96m, while its staff fell to 1300, from 1400 two years ago.