AAPT teams with Integral Energy to tackle small business market

Stuart Corner
Friday, 24 November 2006 09:34

IT Industry - Deals

AAPT has formed an alliance with NSW energy retailer, Integral Energy, initially for joint marketing activities and, down the track, bundled offerings to small businesses.

The companies have described their joint approach as "a three phase plan," but say that, initially it will involve little more than their respective sales teams promoting the other company during sales activities and passing on leads.

Down the track they are talking of providing their customers with "exclusive access to unique telecommunication and utility offers." According to AAPT's  general manager public affairs, David Havyatt, these could include discounted offers for customers taking products and services from both companies, but this development was likely to be six months away.

He said there were no plans to extend the alliance to the residential market, because AAPT believed that small businesses approached telecommunications and energy in similar ways, as utility purchases, but this was not the case for residential customers. A recent customer survey conducted by Integral Energy found that a majority of their business customer base were interested in hearing about telecommunications offers.

Integral Energy is a NSW state-owned energy corporation that  distributes and retails electricity and value-added services to more than 2.1 million people – including 70,000 businesses in Greater Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Illawarra, and the Southern Highlands.

AAPT on the other hand is a national organisation but Havyatt said thee were no plans for similar alliances with other energy utilities to provide similar coverage elsewhere in Australia.  The geographic limitations on the alliance could, however be only temporary.

In a deregulated electricity market, most energy retailers are expanding their service range and their geographic footprint. For Integral Energy the alliance with AAPT could well be part of a wider plan to expand its market to other states.