Following their 11.62% plunge yesterday, Telstra’s shares were down another 6.3% in midday trading on the ASX today.

Telstra shares look set to finish the session at a fresh two-year low, with around $A9 billion wiped from the company’s market cap since it was first shut out of National Broadband Network bidding 48 hours ago.

Yesterday the telco’s shares fell off a cliff following an acerbic statement by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, who made it clear he was not about to let Telstra come back to the National Broadband Network bargaining table.

"Telstra's board will have to explain to its shareholders why it has decided to sideline itself from a process that will shape the Australian communications sector for the next decade," said Senator Conroy.

Earlier in the day, Telstra advised the market that it had been excluded from the NBN bidding process for not including a plan on how it would include Australian and New Zealand small businesses in its network build.

Investors fear Telstra is in danger of losing its near-monopoly, or at the very least is being softened up by Senator Conroy, who objected to the truculent telco’s series of NBN demands, including a no-separation guarantee. Only after a ministerial mauling will a weakened Telstra be allowed to rejoin NBN bidding.