Asia Carrier of the Year | Telstra |
| Last year's winner: | Globe Telecom |
| Best Mobile Carrier | Telstra |
| Last year's winner: | SK Telecom |
| President & CEO: | Andrew Penn |
| Business segments: | Fixed-line services, mobile services, data/IP, NAS, media services, international services |
| Key stats (FY half year results, ending December 31, 2014): | Total income: A$13 billion ($9.6 billion), up 1.6%; Net income: A$2.1 billion, up 21.7%; 336,000 new mobile adds |
Telstra took home two major trophies from this year’s Telecom Asia Awards: Best Mobile Operator and Asia Carrier of the Year. It’s not hard to understand why when you look at the numbers, but the key success factor for Telstra this year has arguably been its regional investment strategy.
There’s little doubt Telstra is doing well on the mobile front, both in terms of network innovation (300-Mbps LTE, anyone?) and digital services (i.e. its acquisition of Ooyala). Oh, and it’s also profitable. In Telstra’s first fiscal half year (ending December 31, 2014), overall mobile revenues were up 9.6% year on year, and the mobile business added 336,000 new subs in that period.
Overall, revenue is growing and so is net profit (up 21.7%).
But David Burns, Telstra’s group managing director, of global services, says the real highlights have been Telstra’s activities outside of its home base, starting with the formal launch of its joint venture in Jakarta with Telkom Indonesia: Telkomtelstra, which offers managed solutions for domestic enterprises and multinationals in Indonesia, including managed network services, professional services and SaaS solutions.
“A second highlight was the opening of the second office of our of our entrepreneurial start-up incubator, Muru-D, in Singapore to directly tap into and support the emergence of news business talent and innovation in Asia.” Burns says.
“We selected Singapore primarily due to its fast-developing startup ecosystem, pro-business policies and access to local capital, and we wish to attract the Asian region’s best digital talent, foster local technology innovation and assist in growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem across Southeast Asia.”
The third highlight was finalizing Telstra’s acquisition of Pacnet, Burns adds. “The integration of the [Pacnet] business positions Telstra as a leading provider of services to multinational and large companies in Asia, doubling our customer numbers in Asia, and greatly increasing our network reach and data center capabilities across the region.”
Unsurprisingly, Telstra doesn’t intend to rest on its laurels anytime soon, and that includes its regional ambitions. Burns says that Telstra will continue to strengthen and expand its presence in Asia and make the most of its regional assets, especially Pacnet.