Chief Executive Officer, David Thodey said the result was an endorsement of Telstra’s strategic direction. “Our strategy around improving customer service, as well as focusing on our growth businesses is working. I am pleased that we have once again delivered on our commitments and met our guidance, at the same time as continuing to simplify our business,” said Mr Thodey.
Mr Thodey said Telstra continued to lead in mobile growth with total domestic retail mobile customers increasing to 15.1 million and mobile revenue rising by six per cent to $9.2 billion. “We have been able to deliver the third consecutive year of significant customer growth as a result of our focus on improving customer service as well as continued investment in the network.
“We know our customers value extensive coverage, fewer drop outs on calls and reliable mobile data speeds and we invested $1.2 billion in our mobile network during the year to deliver on this. This investment includes expanding the reach of our 4G network which now covers 66 per cent of the population and is on target to reach 85 per cent by the end of the year,” said Mr Thodey.
.Telstra continued to build momentum in its Network Applications and Services (NAS) portfolio. NAS revenue increased by 17.7 per cent for the year and included the commencement of a $1.1 billion six year contract with the Department of Defence as well as international agreements with Jetstar and Fitness First.
“Part of the NAS growth strategy is to expand into international markets, particularly in the Asian region and as we announced in July, there are discussions underway regarding the establishment of delivery centres in conjunction with industry partners located in India. This is important for us as we leverage our Asian network assets to deliver NAS service offerings in that region,” said Mr Thodey.