The controversial measure will store all the phone and internet metadata of Australians for two years – a plan operators have warned will cost substantial amounts of money. "I strongly welcome Malcolm Turnbull's elevation and apart from the fact that he's deeply knowledgeable in the telecommunications sector, he has qualities that Australia needs in terms of leadership," Mr Stanton said. "In our sector, the national securities initiatives have impacted our sector and Malcolm has been a force for reason behind the scenes. Initiatives like the data retention regime would have been worse had he not intervened to try and strike a balance between national security and personal liberty as well as the cost of regulation." Mr Stanton supported the removal of the scheme entirely, but said the industry urgently needed more information about its funding. "What we do need is a rapid resolution of the question of how the government's contribution to the set-up costs will be apportioned," he said. "Service providers are having to make investment decisions to comply with this regime without a clue in terms of how far out of pocket they will be."

Macquarie Telecom senior manager for industry and policy David Forman​ called for the NBN discussion to move beyond legacy battles about technology and asked for the project to be ramped up. "There's no question that he really does understand and is devoted to the idea that the transition to a digital economy is the future and that is what we must do," he said. "He totally gets that in a way that few do. "I'm also optimistic that the old legacy of the political wars about the NBN can be put behind us." Other senior industry insiders who have worked closely with Mr Turnbull during his time in the communications portfolio said he had gradually become more consultative and realistic with deadlines after early setbacks building the national broadband network. But they also said he had maintained a tight grip on key areas of his portfolio, intervening directly during the renegotiation of a key $11.2 billion contract between Telstra and NBN.

Another source said the Coalition's timeline for rolling out the NBN was delayed by about three months because Mr Turnbull's original timeline for action failed to account for delays caused by Cabinet processes – an issue that cascaded to cause other delays in the project. However, several executives told Fairfax Media the experience had been a valuable lesson for Mr Turnbull and that he had been actively trying to be more consultative with the sector – in line with his pledge to lead a consultative cabinet government. All the executives who spoke with Fairfax Media said Mr Turnbull had been an excellent Communications Minister who understood his patch. But they also warned that his practice of trying to understand all the minute details relevant to his job would now be nearly impossible. "He also certainly doesn't pull his punches when he feels priorities should be different," one executive said. "He'll now be forced to delegate his work through ministers and staff and that will be a novel experience."