Dec 1 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest telecom company, Telstra Corp Ltd TLS.AX , cut its earnings guidance for the current financial year by A$600 million ($453.84 million)on Friday, as delays in the rollout of a new government-owned broadband network hurt income.
The company cut its forecast for 2018 full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to A$10.1 billion - A$10.6 billion from a prediction in August for earnings between A$10.7 billion and A$11.2 billion. The average forecast from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S was for full-year EBITDA of about A$10.9 billion.
Australia's government-owned National Broadband Network is usurping Telstra's status as the country's monopoly telecoms wholesaler, and will replace Telstra's copper lines with fibre-optic by about 2021.
($1 = 1.3221 Australian dollars)