Telecom's worst nightmare - IT & Communications Minister David Cunliffe - is in line for promotion to the front bench when the PM announces her new cabinet line-up at midday. The Herald is tipping Cunliffe to get Education [whoops, might want to erase that link now]. Question is: will Cunliffe keep IT & C on the side, implying the main broadband charge is over? Or will a fresh face pick up the portfolio, and see through the unbundling reform so we end-users start to see some impact from the radical changes at the top of the food chain? And who will that be? My broadband was unbelievably slow last night, so the thought of Telecom's CEO having to face off against Trevor Mallard did hold momentary appeal (I'm sure there's a political heavyweight joke in there somewhere).

There are two interesting possibilities for IT & C. One is Clayton Cosgrove, who before joining the current govt was an exec with Clear (now TelstraClear), so of course has a ready appreciation of facing Telecom on the front lines. The other is fast rising star and braniac Charles Chauvel, who is relatively young (I'm just assuming that always helps with appreciating the internet), and has the legal eagle background necessary to do battle with your favourite telco's squadrons of lawyers. But both are tipped for other things, according to today's papers. Answers at midday ...

Dateline 1.40pm
Well, that was not my favoured outcome. Cunliffe will take over Health but keep IT & C on the side. Health is a mighty, mighty big vortex. Let's hope he doesn't disappear into it.

Cosgrove got the earthy, old-economy Sport and World Cup portfolios, which for better or worse have far, far more kudos than IT & C (I would say worse unless your key economic infrastructure issue is not broadband, but the state of car parking around Eden Park during the month of October, 2011 - but that's just me!).

The demoted Mallard gets Broadcasting among his consolation prizes - though, again, in the PC World universe this portfolio is anything but second-tier as New Zealand transitions to standard digital TV and HD digital TV broadcasting for all - a complex operation in itself, and one with important flow-on effects for wireless internet access.

Chauvel was not even mentioned in dispatches. New ministers and portfolios are listed on the Beehive site here and the full line-up on Stuff here.