A: Thanks for the question.

The telco sector should ideally be a “growth” sector, however because in Australia Telstra dominates the sector, I think of it as an “income” sector. You really need to think of it in 2 parts - Telstra and the rest.

I think of Telstra as an “income” stock, and although it has some growth business (eg. Mobiles), it also has other businesses in decline (eg. PTSN). I am happy if it stays domestically focused, works its existing business harder, and continues to pay high dividends. The phrase “Telstra and growth” scares me.

At its current price around $5.67,  TLS is (for me) a fraction expensive. I am not a seller, and would be a buyer in the low 5’s. If you haven’t got any in a yield portfolio, pretty hard to ignore the prospective fully franked dividend yield of 5.3%.

Of the rest, have a look at TPG (ASX Code TPM), iiNet (ISU) or M2 (MTU). They are not “yield stocks”. M2 is probably trading on the cheapest multiple of 14.9 compared to ISU at 17.3 and a very expensive TPG at 27.1.