Telstra chairman John Mullen has put the blame for the NBN fiasco on the company's former chief executive, Sol Trujillo, blowing on the embers of one of the bitterest power struggles in Australia's recent political and corporate history.

Speaking at Telstra's annual general meeting on Tuesday, Mr Mullen said Telstra's "recalcitrance" had been a major factor in the Rudd government's decision in 2009 to build the national broadband network itself rather than commission the private sector to do it.