New technology is rapidly changing the way Australians communicate and live their lives. We consider our products holistically in terms of their impact on the marketplace's health and safety, security and privacy, usage and accessibility, and the environment.
Customers
Satisfied customers are fundamental to business success. In addition to the usual perceptions of price, quality and availability, other factors are increasingly being considered by consumers when they decide who to give their custom to.
In 2005-06, Telstra embarked on a fundamental transformation process, which included the way we manage our relationships with our customers. Previously, Telstra took a product-based approach to our customers, with customers segmented by fixed and mobile phone, Internet and so on. We have changed our approach to focus on our customers first and foremost, making their needs the basis of our business.
Our customer focus covers many segments, for example:
- We have a long-standing commitment to making our services accessible to customers with a disability. Our Disability Equipment Program provides volume control phones, big button multi-purpose phones and tele-typewriters (TTY) with a Braille or large visual display.
- We provide access to telecommunications services for Australians on a low income. Since 2002 we have assisted over 1.5 million Australians each month to gain or maintain access to telecommunications services through our Access for Everyone package.
- We give a special focus to the needs of our customers living outside the major metropolitan cities through the Telstra Country Wide® business unit. This approach has allowed Telstra Country Wide® to increase its responsiveness to local service issues, increase the understanding of the availability and utility of Telstra products and drive local infrastructure development.
Products and services
A fundamental part of any business is the products and services they make available for their markets. A leadership company will produce great products and services that meet marketplace needs in a socially and environmentally considerate way.
As part of Telstra's transformation, we aim to provide our customers with a powerful, seamless user experience. Our products will be simple and intuitive to the user. They will provide consistency across our product suite and instant access to information and services that the user wants.
Suppliers
Telstra is one of Australia's top 10 listed companies. In 2005-06, Telstra had dealings with around 9,000 suppliers, many of whom were small and medium sized businesses.
In view of the sheer number of suppliers involved and the range of products and services they supply, Telstra recognises that our suppliers' behaviours can have a significant social and environmental impact, especially within Australia.
At any given point, we have over 500 major active contracts in place with a diverse range of suppliers for an even greater range of products and services. Telstra's purchasing terms have been prepared to share risk between our suppliers and Telstra so that the party best able to manage a particular risk has the obligation to be responsible for that risk. This is supported by our supplier selection process which has been designed to ensure we identify risks, determine who is responsible for the risk and ensure the appropriate controls are included in our contractual arrangements.
Pricing and competition
The telecommunications market in Australia has been open to competition for over a decade. There are currently over 140 carriage service providers offering fixed line telephony and over 700 Internet service providers offering Internet access. Strong competition exists in the telecommunications marketplace and has led to downward pressure on prices.
Telstra believes that our pricing should be transparent and that customers should be aware of the services they are paying for. We believe that customers should be rewarded for loyalty. If customers choose Telstra for multiple products such as fixed phone, mobile and Internet we seek to reward customers through benefits such as free local calls and discounts on monthly BigPond® charges. The more services a customer chooses to have with Telstra, the greater the rewards.
