Telstra has upgraded its EBIT guidance for 2007-08 and and its long-term objectives for revenue and EBITDA growth. According to CEO Sol Trujillo, the outlook for EBIT growth for 2007-08 has been increased from 3-5 percent to 5-7 percent, which includes a AUD 100 million distribution from Foxtel. The long-term objectives for revenue and EBITDA growth to 2010 will rise by 0.5 percentage points from the 2-2.5 percent per annum range to the new 2.5-3 percent per annum range.

According to Trujillo, Telstra has beaten by two months its schedule to switch on ''IT release one'', a transformed new IT system that will make it easier for customers to do business with the company. The company has also launched an icon store in Sydney, Australia. The new IT system will eventually serve 5.3 million consumer and small business customers by giving call centre staff a single view of the customer. The new icon store will allow customers to test live products, learn from interactive, hands-on technology demonstrations and receive advice from specially trained staff.

Telstra has built over 6,000 NextG base stations (nearly twice the number of CDMA) providing a cell range as far as 200 km and peak network speeds of 14.4-Mbps, sold nearly 400,000 mobile data cards for laptops, installed 2.2 million ADSL1 and 2.7 million ADSL2+ ports, upgraded to 30 Mbps the HFC network passing 940,000 homes in Melbourne and 925,000 homes in Sydney, and achieved 99.999 percent reliability on the NextIP network for business. Strike rates on customer contacts doubled from 8 percent in April-June 2006 to 16 percent one year later.

Telstra added 33,000 retail customers to the traditional copper phone service in July-September 2007. By 30 September, the company had 2.51 million 3G customers, of whom 1.546 million are NextG customers. Telstra has generated more mobile revenue from non-SMS data content than from SMS. Telstra has also unveiled six new NextG devices. The new devices include two from Nokia and others from ZTE, Samsung and Motorola.

Telstra also announced new online content and services, including 33 channels of mobile Foxtel and 33 shows on BigPond TV, a BigPond Office application that makes it easy for small businesses and families to share documents or budgets, a trial of exclusive discounts for NextG customers who use their handset to scan barcodes at shops and restaurants, the creation of a simulated city of Sydney on Second Life, and a new pocket-sized mobile credit card terminal for business customers.

Since November 2005, unsatisfied ADSL orders have fallen 90 percent, activation costs are down 22 percent, field workforce productivity has improved 20 percent and reported problems per 100 services have declined by 40 percent. Telstra''s partnership with Brightstar for end-to-end handset procurement has delivered savings of over AUD 300 million vs old buying practices, including AUD 246 million in 2006-07 alone. Telstra will also enter phase two of a contract with IBM to transform the supply-chain


Source:Telecompaper

Tags:Telstra | CDMA | CELL | 3G | ADSL | IBM