Ziggy Switkowski to chair NBN board Former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski is the new chairman of the NBN co board. FORMER Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski has been appointed executive chairman of the NBN Co board. Dr Switkowski, a nuclear physicist dumped as Telstra's chief executive in 2004, will lead a three-person board overseeing the rollout of the National Broadband Network. The new NBN Co board was announced today by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Dr Switkowski replaces outgoing chairwoman Siobhan McKenna. Dr Switkowski will be joined by current NBN Co board members Kerry Schott and Alison Lansley. Ms Schott and Ms Lansley are the only survivors of the former NBN Co board, all of which tendered their resignations after the Coalition won the election. Mr Turnbull had previously criticised the lack of telecommunications and construction experience on the NBN board. Mr Turnbull said Dr Switkowski was one of the most experienced telecom executives in Australia. Dr Schott is a former managing director of Deutsche Bank and deputy secretary of the NSW Treasury. She was also on the staff of Mr Turnbull's former consulting firm Whitlam Turnbull in the late 1980s. Ms Lansley was a partner at the law firm Mallesons and served on a number of boards including the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. Labor communications spokesman Anthony Albanese warned Mr Turnbull's "haste" to install his own NBN board could compromise the NBN project. "One of the first principles of good governance is that a board should have an appropriate and broad mix of skills and experience," Mr Albanese said. This cannot be achieved with a three person board, no matter how accomplished Mr Turnbull may think they are. He said Mr Turnbull had failed to add "relevant experience" to the new board. While Dr Switkowski has been CEO of both Telstra and Optus, he was not in charge of any major new network construction activity in either role.