Telstra chief executive David Thodey says the National Broadband Network will help, not harm, the prospects for the Foxtel pay TV service.

“The critical thing for Foxtel is to get access to more homes to be able to sell the Foxtel service,” Mr Thodey told journalists at a briefing for Telstra’s full year results.

“Anything that helps us do that is good news and so the NBN, in that sense, is helpful.”

The NBN’s impact on Foxtel’s business has been set out as a factor in the criticism of prime minister Kevin Rudd and his Labor Party by Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation papers.

Telstra owns half of Foxtel, with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation holding the balance.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd subsequently claimed there was a “strange coincidence of interests” between Mr Murdoch and the federal coalition in their opposition to the NBN.

On Wednesday, Mr Rudd said opposition leader Tony Abbott should reveal whether he had spoken to Mr Murdoch about the NBN.

Mr Abbott said he had not discussed the network and Mr Murdoch tweeted on August 5 that the NBN was “especially perfect for Foxtel”.

Telstra will receive $11 billion in compensation from the federal government to decommission its copper wire network and allow access to its infrastructure for the NBN.