1 00:00:04,110 --> 00:00:07,260 Sean Aylmer: Welcome to the Fear and Greed daily interview. I'm Sean Aylmer. 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,920 Sean Aylmer: The telco sector in Australia is a fascinating space. It's 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,620 Sean Aylmer: an industry we all engage with every day whenever we 4 00:00:13,620 --> 00:00:16,020 Sean Aylmer: make a phone call, send a message or go online. 5 00:00:16,289 --> 00:00:21,270 Sean Aylmer: It's innovative with technology like the NBN and 5g constantly evolving. But 6 00:00:21,270 --> 00:00:24,509 Sean Aylmer: it's also a fiercely competitive sector with a battle between 7 00:00:24,509 --> 00:00:28,350 Sean Aylmer: the dominant incumbent Telstra and Optus, the second biggest network, 8 00:00:28,559 --> 00:00:32,609 Sean Aylmer: plus a multitude of other players. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin is 9 00:00:32,610 --> 00:00:34,979 Sean Aylmer: the chief executive of Optus and my guest this morning. 10 00:00:34,979 --> 00:00:36,330 Sean Aylmer: Kelly, welcome to Fear and Greed. 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,370 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Thank you so much for having me. 12 00:00:39,089 --> 00:00:41,070 Sean Aylmer: There's a lot to talk about so we're going to 13 00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:43,769 Sean Aylmer: do something a little unusual on this occasion. This is 14 00:00:43,769 --> 00:00:46,949 Sean Aylmer: a two- part interview. The first focusing on Optus in 15 00:00:46,950 --> 00:00:49,710 Sean Aylmer: the telco sector and the second, Kelly, on your career and 16 00:00:49,710 --> 00:00:53,039 Sean Aylmer: what you've learned about people and leadership. So let's start 17 00:00:53,039 --> 00:00:58,590 Sean Aylmer: with scale. How big is Optus compared to the other players in the market? 18 00:00:59,250 --> 00:01:02,820 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: It's almost like a tail of halves. Telstra's biggest. We're 19 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:06,689 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: about half the size of Telstra and then TPG is 20 00:01:06,690 --> 00:01:09,480 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: about half the size of us. And those are really 21 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,199 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the three telco players in the market. 22 00:01:13,229 --> 00:01:17,190 Sean Aylmer: Okay. It's incredibly competitive or it seems to be, as 23 00:01:17,190 --> 00:01:21,539 Sean Aylmer: a consumer. I'm often wondering whether I should change what 24 00:01:21,539 --> 00:01:24,270 Sean Aylmer: I should be doing, that type of thing. How competitive 25 00:01:24,389 --> 00:01:27,300 Sean Aylmer: is the market and how much are customers moving around? 26 00:01:27,809 --> 00:01:31,170 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: It's an extremely competitive market, as you would expect when 27 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:35,430 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: you only have three players all fighting over market share 28 00:01:35,430 --> 00:01:39,719 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: in a very mature market that's also well saturated with 29 00:01:39,719 --> 00:01:46,109 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: connectivity and communications adoption. So we're all fighting very vigorously 30 00:01:46,109 --> 00:01:50,970 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: for customers. And what you see is that many customers 31 00:01:50,970 --> 00:01:55,350 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: are loyal and will enjoy good service and reward those 32 00:01:55,350 --> 00:01:59,579 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: companies providing good service. And then others are very willing 33 00:01:59,580 --> 00:02:02,879 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to switch based on the latest deal. But market share 34 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,930 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: doesn't move very far or very fast despite all that competition. 35 00:02:07,470 --> 00:02:10,470 Sean Aylmer: Okay. Is it based on price? Is that where most 36 00:02:10,470 --> 00:02:13,080 Sean Aylmer: of the competition is? Or is it service? Is it 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:14,040 Sean Aylmer: speed? What is it? 38 00:02:14,910 --> 00:02:18,240 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: There are a number of bases for competition. I'll start with 39 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,260 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the ones that have historically been the main reasons why 40 00:02:22,260 --> 00:02:26,100 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: people choose or stay with the telco. And that comes 41 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:31,169 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: down to the amount of coverage they receive. So how 42 00:02:31,169 --> 00:02:35,429 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: big the telco's network is, how much the connectivity covers 43 00:02:35,429 --> 00:02:38,580 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the areas that they will be living in, working in 44 00:02:38,580 --> 00:02:42,390 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and traveling to. It also comes down to dollars for 45 00:02:42,419 --> 00:02:44,760 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: gigs, the price that you can pay for the amount 46 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,150 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: of data that you consume. And then I'd say service 47 00:02:48,150 --> 00:02:50,970 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: comes next. And by service, I think people need very 48 00:02:50,970 --> 00:02:53,730 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: traditional service when something's not working. And I pick up 49 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:57,299 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the phone, how responsive are they or if I need 50 00:02:57,299 --> 00:03:00,239 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to do something or check something on my account, how 51 00:03:00,270 --> 00:03:02,250 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: polite are they to me on the phone? How long 52 00:03:02,250 --> 00:03:04,410 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: do I have to wait? So those are all the 53 00:03:04,410 --> 00:03:07,590 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: traditional ways in which telcos have been competing for a 54 00:03:07,590 --> 00:03:12,120 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: long time. And Optus, we are really focused on delivering 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,469 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: true customer value and innovating. So we are changing the 56 00:03:16,469 --> 00:03:20,580 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: basis of competition and introducing new features that make the 57 00:03:20,580 --> 00:03:25,560 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: network a lot more tailorable to the customer's specific requirements. 58 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,980 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: We call it the living network. It's very innovative. It's 59 00:03:28,980 --> 00:03:32,909 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: unlike anything that customers have seen before. And what it 60 00:03:32,910 --> 00:03:35,729 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: means is that you can get features and levels of 61 00:03:35,730 --> 00:03:41,640 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: control that you can't on other telecommunication services. So, some 62 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,820 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: examples of that, is we give our customers the ability 63 00:03:44,820 --> 00:03:49,469 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to donate data that they're not using to underprivileged children 64 00:03:49,469 --> 00:03:52,080 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: who might need it more. Or we give our customers 65 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:58,110 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the opportunity to pause any or all of their devices simultaneously. 66 00:03:58,410 --> 00:04:00,960 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: So they can have a digital detox or enjoy dinner 67 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,990 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: with their family, or even to the level of pausing 68 00:04:04,230 --> 00:04:06,660 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the computer for one member of the family who might 69 00:04:06,660 --> 00:04:09,148 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: be gaming too much and won't come to the dinner table. 70 00:04:09,839 --> 00:04:12,299 Sean Aylmer: This is great Kelly, but I think my children would revolt. 71 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,330 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Well, maybe sometimes they would want you to be on 72 00:04:15,330 --> 00:04:18,419 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: pause so that you're not consumed by your email and ignoring them. 73 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,830 Sean Aylmer: Oh no, I would never do that. But it is 74 00:04:22,830 --> 00:04:29,639 Sean Aylmer: a great idea. I'm interested in where the future lies 75 00:04:29,639 --> 00:04:34,110 Sean Aylmer: for a group like Optus. Is it becoming a more service- 76 00:04:34,230 --> 00:04:37,950 Sean Aylmer: driven company rather than a product company? 77 00:04:38,490 --> 00:04:40,799 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: I think we're trying to be a combination of both 78 00:04:41,190 --> 00:04:44,759 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: because what customers are actually buying as a service, the 79 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:49,500 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: service is the ability to be connected and do everything 80 00:04:49,500 --> 00:04:52,080 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: you want to do in your life when it comes 81 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,470 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to being connected. And what I mean by that is 82 00:04:55,470 --> 00:04:59,159 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: that we've come to rely on telecommunication services so much 83 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,159 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: without even realizing it. So for work, we have to 84 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,309 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: be connected so that we can work from home, dial 85 00:05:05,309 --> 00:05:09,960 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: into zooms, connect to the internet. For entertainment, we're connected 86 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,250 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to stream our Netflix, to listen to podcasts, et cetera, 87 00:05:14,610 --> 00:05:16,949 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and to keep in touch with the people we love 88 00:05:16,950 --> 00:05:21,479 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: using WhatsApp, using Instagram, using Facebook, giving them the occasional 89 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,890 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: phone call. All of those things are services that can't 90 00:05:25,890 --> 00:05:29,670 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: be done without the connectivity that we provide and customers 91 00:05:29,670 --> 00:05:32,279 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: expect it to work and expect it to work for 92 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,769 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: them and be optimized to what they're doing at that 93 00:05:34,770 --> 00:05:38,370 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: moment in time. And we think that the old model 94 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,039 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: of a telco as a utility, where you set and 95 00:05:41,039 --> 00:05:43,890 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: forget in the background, you choose an amount of data 96 00:05:44,190 --> 00:05:46,830 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and you don't think about it until you pay your 97 00:05:46,830 --> 00:05:50,520 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: bill, is a really archaic model. And moving into the 98 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,998 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: future, customers should have choices about how connected they are, 99 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,120 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: when they're connected, whether they want to dial it up, 100 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,789 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: dial it down, put it on pause, whether they want 101 00:05:59,789 --> 00:06:02,640 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to use voice in new and novel ways. One of 102 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,670 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the other living network features that we've released is called 103 00:06:05,670 --> 00:06:10,200 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: translate, which is very innovative. It's a world first where 104 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,229 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: we've figured out how to put data over a voice 105 00:06:13,230 --> 00:06:16,889 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: line. The whole industry's been obsessed about putting voice over 106 00:06:16,889 --> 00:06:19,470 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: a data line. And we went the other way and 107 00:06:19,470 --> 00:06:22,469 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: said, what if we could enable our customers to do 108 00:06:22,470 --> 00:06:26,940 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: cool things, using a standard voice line. So, Call Translate 109 00:06:27,178 --> 00:06:31,140 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: literally lets you translate between two languages in real time, 110 00:06:31,410 --> 00:06:34,890 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: over a standard phone line. So you can literally call 111 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,240 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: a normal phone in China and have that conversation translated 112 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,420 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: for you. And we partnered with Google and we leveraged 113 00:06:42,420 --> 00:06:46,529 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the standard Google Translate APIs. So there's plenty of other 114 00:06:46,529 --> 00:06:49,229 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: applications that we can release now that we've innovated on 115 00:06:49,230 --> 00:06:52,980 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: voice. But the idea is to really enrich people's lives 116 00:06:53,039 --> 00:06:55,470 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and give them a lot more than just dollars for 117 00:06:55,470 --> 00:06:58,140 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: gigs and give them a lot more reasons to choose 118 00:06:58,140 --> 00:07:00,779 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Optus and a lot more reasons to stay with Optus. 119 00:07:01,260 --> 00:07:03,359 Sean Aylmer: Stay with me, Kelly, we'll be back in a minute. 120 00:07:09,150 --> 00:07:13,439 Sean Aylmer: My guest this morning is Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. 121 00:07:13,439 --> 00:07:17,160 Sean Aylmer: So you've been with Optus since April 2019 and some of these 122 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,460 Sean Aylmer: examples you've been giving to show how innovative the company 123 00:07:20,460 --> 00:07:23,639 Sean Aylmer: is, but you've also been quite happy to purchase other 124 00:07:23,639 --> 00:07:25,290 Sean Aylmer: companies. And I'm sure it is all part of the 125 00:07:25,290 --> 00:07:27,120 Sean Aylmer: same mix. If you want to grow, sometimes you need 126 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,360 Sean Aylmer: to purchase, sometimes you do it organically or through innovation. 127 00:07:30,959 --> 00:07:35,670 Sean Aylmer: Amaysim, which is Australia's largest mobile virtual network operator. So the operator 128 00:07:35,670 --> 00:07:38,940 Sean Aylmer: leases phone and data service from the carrier, in this 129 00:07:38,940 --> 00:07:43,349 Sean Aylmer: case it's you guys, Optus. What's that about? What's that 130 00:07:43,349 --> 00:07:44,279 Sean Aylmer: mean for your strategy? 131 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,290 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: First, just to explain, because consumers do see a lot 132 00:07:49,290 --> 00:07:52,920 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: of telco brands, there are only three telcos that actually 133 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,190 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: have all the infrastructure and equipment and that's Telstra, Optus 134 00:07:56,190 --> 00:07:59,429 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and TBG. And there's a lot more brands and what 135 00:07:59,429 --> 00:08:04,679 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: they're doing, we call them MVNOs, mobile virtual network operators, 136 00:08:04,740 --> 00:08:07,680 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: in that they don't actually do the investment in the 137 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,700 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: infrastructure or have towers and radio equipment out there. They 138 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:17,580 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: lease wholesale capacity from the three main telco providers. So, 139 00:08:17,639 --> 00:08:21,149 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: really what they're doing is layering a service on the 140 00:08:21,179 --> 00:08:25,290 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: infrastructure that we provide and they typically tend to compete 141 00:08:25,290 --> 00:08:28,200 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: at a different price point in the market because they 142 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,020 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: don't have that full service offering that the three main 143 00:08:31,020 --> 00:08:34,500 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: operators have. Now, Amaysim was the largest one in the 144 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:38,969 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: market and we thought that, strategically, the telco market in 145 00:08:38,969 --> 00:08:43,260 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Australia had fallen into a state of extremely low profitability 146 00:08:43,890 --> 00:08:47,280 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: where none of the telcos are really returning above the 147 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:51,029 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: cost of capital to their investors. That's not viable and 148 00:08:51,030 --> 00:08:54,328 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: sustainable. And one of the challenges in the market is 149 00:08:54,330 --> 00:08:58,109 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: that we have so many MVNOs that have come into 150 00:08:58,109 --> 00:09:01,588 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: existence over time and they compete so fiercely at a 151 00:09:01,590 --> 00:09:05,790 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: price point that really isn't sustainable in the market. So 152 00:09:05,790 --> 00:09:09,030 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: we thought that part of the strategy should be for 153 00:09:09,030 --> 00:09:12,330 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: us to acquire the largest MVNO so that we could 154 00:09:12,330 --> 00:09:16,559 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: have a greater influence on pricing and profitability of the 155 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,220 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: overall market. And we could also learn from, and work 156 00:09:20,220 --> 00:09:24,270 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: closely with, a very nimble organization that's digital by nature 157 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:28,199 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and transfer skills from them into Optus and vice versa. 158 00:09:29,070 --> 00:09:32,159 Sean Aylmer: Is it like a Jetstar Qantas model or is that 159 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:32,730 Sean Aylmer: just ignorant? 160 00:09:33,299 --> 00:09:36,299 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: No, I think that's a lovely way to think about 161 00:09:36,299 --> 00:09:42,030 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: it. You've got low frills, basic service MVNOs compared to 162 00:09:42,030 --> 00:09:43,770 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the full service operators. 163 00:09:44,700 --> 00:09:49,080 Sean Aylmer: Now, Telstra and TPG recently have done the 10- year multi operator co- 164 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,889 Sean Aylmer: network deal, which from an outsider looking in, it just 165 00:09:52,889 --> 00:09:54,780 Sean Aylmer: looks like they're getting fairly close to each other. If 166 00:09:54,780 --> 00:09:58,559 Sean Aylmer: you are saying there's only three big players, those two 167 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,110 Sean Aylmer: being one, what's that mean? 168 00:10:01,770 --> 00:10:06,690 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Yeah, it's a really interesting arrangement that's been proposed. It's 169 00:10:06,690 --> 00:10:13,169 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: an arrangement whereby TPG will stop investing in regional areas 170 00:10:13,470 --> 00:10:17,640 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and will leverage the Telstra network in those regional areas. 171 00:10:18,090 --> 00:10:20,730 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: And they will look a lot more like these MVNOs 172 00:10:20,730 --> 00:10:24,389 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: we've been describing where they'll be able to provide a 173 00:10:24,389 --> 00:10:28,409 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: different brand and a different price point potentially, but they'll 174 00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:31,710 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: still be using the main Telstra network and all their 175 00:10:31,710 --> 00:10:36,420 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: radio equipment that's out in the regional areas. So, we 176 00:10:36,420 --> 00:10:39,840 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: think that this is a deal that might look good for TBG, 177 00:10:40,260 --> 00:10:45,960 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: but the real winner is Telstra because telecommunications is really 178 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,670 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: an industry where scale matters. There's huge infrastructure costs to 179 00:10:50,670 --> 00:10:53,790 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: go put coverage all over the country. And once you 180 00:10:53,790 --> 00:10:56,040 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: do that, the way to pay that back, is getting 181 00:10:56,040 --> 00:11:00,300 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: as many customers on your network as possible. Telstra already 182 00:11:00,300 --> 00:11:04,679 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: has 70% market share in regional areas. And by them 183 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,460 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: doing this deal, even if TPG is successful in getting 184 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:12,420 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: more customers, that adds to the Telstra network, gives extra 185 00:11:12,420 --> 00:11:15,780 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: money to Telstra, and they get to expand their scale 186 00:11:15,780 --> 00:11:19,559 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: from a really dominant position. So, for that reason, it's 187 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,458 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: really not good for competition. It reduces the number of 188 00:11:23,458 --> 00:11:26,939 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: sites that there are in regional Australia at a time 189 00:11:26,940 --> 00:11:30,510 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: when we should be encouraging more connectivity in regional Australia, 190 00:11:30,809 --> 00:11:34,380 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: not less. And it's also going to create a huge 191 00:11:34,380 --> 00:11:38,400 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: market asymmetry when you have the number one player teaming 192 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:41,340 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: up with the number three player to gang up on number 193 00:11:41,340 --> 00:11:45,780 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: two. In a three-player market, that really doesn't improve competition. 194 00:11:46,350 --> 00:11:48,750 Sean Aylmer: Okay. I mentioned the NBN in the opener. There have been a few 195 00:11:48,750 --> 00:11:52,139 Sean Aylmer: challenges on the NBN front and NBN Co, itself, was 196 00:11:52,139 --> 00:11:55,620 Sean Aylmer: undergoing a strategy reset at the moment. Is the NBN 197 00:11:55,620 --> 00:11:56,280 Sean Aylmer: working, do you think? 198 00:11:56,281 --> 00:12:01,140 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: I think there are many positives about the NBN where there is 199 00:12:01,140 --> 00:12:05,340 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: connectivity all over the country. There are also many challenges 200 00:12:05,340 --> 00:12:08,639 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: with NBN because of the multi technology solution that they 201 00:12:08,639 --> 00:12:13,319 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: decided to deploy. And we've been working closely with the NBN 202 00:12:13,710 --> 00:12:17,279 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: because we believe that the real strides that need to 203 00:12:17,279 --> 00:12:21,088 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: be taken are strides in customer service. We would like the 204 00:12:21,300 --> 00:12:25,078 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: NBN to be much more focused on end customer outcomes 205 00:12:25,500 --> 00:12:28,828 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and, to the extent that they want to move around 206 00:12:28,830 --> 00:12:32,310 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: on their pricing, we think it should also come with 207 00:12:32,700 --> 00:12:36,208 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: a much stronger tie to service level agreements where if 208 00:12:36,208 --> 00:12:38,550 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the NBN doesn't do what it says it will do, 209 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,170 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: that there's a financial implication to that. So, we don't 210 00:12:43,170 --> 00:12:46,860 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: like it when NBN technicians don't show up for appointments, 211 00:12:47,219 --> 00:12:50,760 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: because what happens then is that the customer actually calls 212 00:12:51,179 --> 00:12:56,309 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the operators, us, Telstra, TPG when actually it's NBN who 213 00:12:56,309 --> 00:12:58,620 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: didn't show up. And that creates a lot of cost 214 00:12:58,620 --> 00:13:02,580 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and rework in the system. So the whole system's profitability 215 00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:08,219 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: would improve if NBN delivered better service to customers, both 216 00:13:08,219 --> 00:13:11,248 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: in terms of installation and technicians going out, but also 217 00:13:11,250 --> 00:13:14,429 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: in terms of quality and fault tolerance and less outages, 218 00:13:14,429 --> 00:13:14,970 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: et cetera. 219 00:13:15,809 --> 00:13:18,870 Sean Aylmer: One final question, Kelly. How do you catch up to 220 00:13:18,870 --> 00:13:20,250 Sean Aylmer: Telstra in the long term? 221 00:13:21,719 --> 00:13:24,540 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: In the mobile part of the market, when it comes 222 00:13:24,540 --> 00:13:27,989 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to consumers, I think we have a pretty much unbeatable 223 00:13:27,990 --> 00:13:32,189 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: proposition. We offer value for money. We're about 20% cheaper 224 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:36,510 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: than Telstra. Our coverage is outstanding. We cover 98.5% of the 225 00:13:36,510 --> 00:13:40,650 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: population. Plus we have all these amazing living network features 226 00:13:40,650 --> 00:13:43,588 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: that you can't get anywhere else. We also have great 227 00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:47,250 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: family plans that enable you to share your data. And 228 00:13:47,250 --> 00:13:51,750 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: we have unique things like SubHub where you can subscribe 229 00:13:51,750 --> 00:13:54,960 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to all your favorite streaming services and get up to 230 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,860 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: a 10% discount. Optus Sport, which is unique to Optus 231 00:13:58,860 --> 00:14:02,130 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: customers, and a lot of other benefits you can't get 232 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:05,069 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: anywhere else. So, I think on the mobile side, we 233 00:14:05,070 --> 00:14:08,400 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: already have a winning proposition. And in certain areas we 234 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,910 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: do have more market share than Telstra, for example, in 235 00:14:11,910 --> 00:14:15,659 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: the Sydney area. So I think we've not just caught 236 00:14:15,660 --> 00:14:18,090 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: them, but overtaken them in terms of what we can 237 00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:21,629 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: really, truly offer to a customer. But we've got years 238 00:14:21,630 --> 00:14:24,269 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: and years of incumbency to deal with and to make 239 00:14:24,270 --> 00:14:28,320 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: that happen uniformly across the country. It's only 30 years 240 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,500 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: ago that the market was opened up to competition and 241 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:34,050 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: we're doing well in the mobile front. On the fixed 242 00:14:34,050 --> 00:14:37,530 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: front it's a lot harder. I think people thought that, 243 00:14:37,530 --> 00:14:40,620 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: with the NBN coming in, that it would open up competition. 244 00:14:40,859 --> 00:14:43,620 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: And it has to some extent but Telstra's market share 245 00:14:43,620 --> 00:14:47,730 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: has remained quite high there. And then the real area 246 00:14:47,730 --> 00:14:50,879 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: where the market share hasn't shifted and where we need 247 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:54,809 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: to really invest and change the game to challenge Telstra 248 00:14:54,809 --> 00:14:58,619 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: is in the business and enterprise space where we have 249 00:14:58,619 --> 00:15:02,520 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: far lower market share and where we are looking to 250 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,479 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: understand what a truly customer- centric proposition will be and 251 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:08,940 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: how we can make inroads into that part of the market. 252 00:15:09,719 --> 00:15:11,520 Sean Aylmer: Kelly, thank you for talking to Fear and Greed. 253 00:15:11,820 --> 00:15:12,480 Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: Thank you. 254 00:15:13,170 --> 00:15:16,440 Sean Aylmer: That was Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, the CEO of Optus. We'll 255 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,839 Sean Aylmer: be joined again by Kelly for a look at specifically 256 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,320 Sean Aylmer: at leadership, at people and culture, and everything she's learned 257 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,380 Sean Aylmer: running one of Australia's most high profile companies. This is 258 00:15:25,380 --> 00:15:27,450 Sean Aylmer: a Fear and Greed interview. Join us every morning for 259 00:15:27,450 --> 00:15:30,000 Sean Aylmer: the full episode of Fear and Greed, Australia's most popular 260 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,700 Sean Aylmer: business podcast. I'm Shawn Aylmer. Enjoy your day.