Telstra gets on with winning business despite its problems

Peter Dinham
Monday, 02 March 2009 16:50

IT Industry - Strategy

Well, Telstra might have its problems with exclusion from the NBN, falling fixed line revenues, Sol’s departure and now the long-expected offloading of Kaz.  Brushing all that aside, however, the big T still forges ahead with core business, announcing a new contract today to deploy fibre to the home broadband (FTTH) in a South Australian housing estate and, just a few days ago, a seriously large contract to deploy the Cisco TelePresence system for the federal government across all states and territories and a number of government departments.

In today’s announcement, Telstra says it’s partnering Marina Hindmarsh Island to launch a South Australian first with deployment of a high-speed, FTTH in an estate and village for over 55s. Telstra says the village, on Hindmarsh Island about one hour south of Adelaide, will be connected to its FTTH network, with residents able to enjoy leading-edge telecommunications services.

Telstra’s acting executive director Telstra Country Wide for SA and the NT, Wally Donaldson claimed the Telstra Velocity technology would transform the community into a Telstra Smart Community and Marina Hindmarsh Island’s own Andrew Chapman said that with astute planning residents would benefit from having the best services available at their fingertips – including high-speed broadband.

Donaldson went on to say that Telstra’s Velocity fibre optic technology in new housing developments would give Alexandrina Cove, Princess Royal and future land releases at The Marina Hindmarsh Island access to a range of telecommunications and entertainment services such as BigPond high-speed internet, digital free-to-air television and up to four fixed line telephone services.

And, in further endorsement of the FTTH deployment at Hindmarsh Island, Chapman said Telstra will deliver high-speed broadband to all Alexandrina Cove and Princess Royal residents that will “perfectly complement the exciting range of residential homes and the comprehensive array of lifestyle facilities.

 “By including Telstra Velocity during the planning stages of this development, we have ensured that residents will have access to the communication and entertainment facilities they need, now and into the future.”

Coincidentally, just a few days after Simon Hackett, the boss of South Australian-based Internode, got stuck into everyone and sundry, ridiculing the NBN ‘target speeds of 12Mbps’ and announcing Internode’s launch of its own 100Mbps FTTH and partnering of housing estate telecoms specialist, OptiComm to deliver  “Australia’s fastest commercial broadband services,”  Telstra’s Donaldson says, in today’s SA Hindmarsh Island announcement, that “currently, Telstra Velocity network is delivering high-speed broadband up to 20Mbps with the network scalable to 100Mbps.”

“This will be important for residents as new products emerge that rely on even greater speeds. Telstra Velocity will be ready to accommodate these requirements quickly,” Donaldson claimed.

 Donaldson said Telstra was already working with developers across the country, and has more than 100 completed or planned projects that will see residents benefit from versatile communication services in the home, such as high-speed broadband, multiple fixed line services, digital free-to-air TV and access to Telstra’s future broadband products.
 
 “Over the past three years, Telstra has continued to deliver this service to thousands of residents in new estates across the country. This innovative customer solution is delivered by Telstra in partnership with developers and their projects, such as The Marina Hindmarsh Island.

 “People who live in a Telstra smart community have ready access to advanced telecommunications services. Alexandrina Cove and Princess Royal residents will have the ability to surf the internet at high speeds, send large emails with photos to family and friends, or plan their next holiday from any room in their home.

 “This technology embodies our philosophy that people have the right to live in new and exciting environments while still enjoying state-of-the-art technology,” Donaldson added.