Telstra Chief Executive Officer David Thodey announced a series of appointments and major initiatives that sharpen the company’s focus on customers and position Telstra for industry changes including the National Broadband Network.
“These appointments and initiatives are consistent with our long-term strategy to improve service, win customers, simplify processes and build new growth businesses,” Mr Thodey said. “They create a single retail sales and service team designed to free-up customer-facing teams to focus on their primary role of serving and winning customers, and capitalise on the opportunity to grow new revenue streams.”
The changes include the following:
Telstra’s entire sales and retail customer service workforce will be unified in a single
business unit from 1 August 2011. Telstra Customer Sales & Service, to be headed by Gordon Ballantyne, will be responsible for sales and service to all segments including consumer, business, enterprise and
government customers. In support of the Telstra Customer Sales & Service unit, the company’s marketing functions
will be centralised under the leadership of Chief Marketing Officer Mark Buckman.
Telstra veteran Stuart Lee has been appointed as Group Managing Director, Telstra Wholesale. NBN Co will become Telstra’s largest wholesale customer by virtue of its agreement to lease Telstra infrastructure including dark fibre, exchange space and ducts for at least 35 years. Telstra Wholesale will continue to comply with separation undertakings.
Recognising the importance of content and value-added services in the post NBN environment, Telstra will form an Applications & Ventures Group (AVG) to spearhead its investment in new and emerging high-speed broadband businesses. Deena Shiff will lead the Applications & Ventures Group from 1 August 2011, relinquishing her role as Group Managing Director, Telstra Business. Will Irving, formerly Group General Counsel, will succeed Ms Shiff as head of Telstra Business and will report to Gordon Ballantyne.
In addition to new executive appointments, Mr Thodey today also announced a series of new lines of business and proposed internal structural changes to support the company’s long-term strategy.
Telstra will establish specialised teams to support the company’s growth opportunities in Cloud Computing and Media.
Telstra’s international business unit, headed by Tarek Robbiati, will gain day-to-day responsibility for managing the network assets it uses to serve international enterprise and carrier customers.
Telstra’s Operations business unit will be accountable for providing all back-of-house services for consumer customers, making it easier to manage processes from a customer’s point of view, and simpler to track and report the company’s operational performance.
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