1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixteen. Now, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: there is certainly a lot happening around the place at 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: the moment, and I'm pleased to say that the CEO 4 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: of Telstra, Andy Penn, joins me on the line right now. 5 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Andy. 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 2: Hey Katie, great to be on the show. 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,280 Speaker 1: Good to have you with us. Now, I understand that 8 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: telecommunication services on the Teewii Islands have had well a 9 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: major upgrade following more than a year of work. Talk 10 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: us through what's happened. 11 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, Look, it's been fantastic to be able to 12 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 2: work with the NT government and the local community on 13 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 2: TWI to really bring around three things that we've done. Firstly, 14 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: we substantially increase capacity, so that's the bandwidth it's available 15 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 2: to the island and around the island. Secondly, we've increased 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 2: power supply and power back up because obviously powers are 17 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 2: really important part of providing connectivity and they do get 18 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 2: power outages over there, so really improved the battery back up. 19 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 2: And then we've also improved coverage generally on the island. 20 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 2: We've put in a small cell which extends the mobile network, 21 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 2: and we've upgraded the network over there to four G. 22 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 2: So I was there yesterday and the local people were 23 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 2: really enjoying those benefits. 24 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, I bet they are, and no doubt it's going 25 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: to make things a lot easier for them in terms 26 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: of that coverage, particularly, like you said, with things like 27 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: the internet as well. 28 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 2: Look. Absolutely, and of course these days it's not just 29 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 2: about being able to speak to people on the phone. 30 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 2: I mean these days it's about remote healthcare, it's about education, 31 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 2: emergency services. So being connected, being connected to the is 32 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 2: more important than it's ever been. 33 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is. And we know that that's not 34 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: all you're up to while you're in Darwin. You're going 35 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: to be opening a new call center as well, that 36 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: it's going to be responsible for answering all calls and 37 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: inquiries from indigenous communities around Australia. 38 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, look, that's right. And one of the things I've 39 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 2: learned from visiting communities like Tiwi and other remote and 40 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 2: indigenous communities around the country is those residents and those 41 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 2: people need particular support and they need people that are 42 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 2: empathetic to their communities to be able to actually help 43 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 2: them with any telecommunications issues that they've got. So we're launching, 44 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:31,480 Speaker 2: to David the Chief Minister, a dedicated Indigenous call center 45 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 2: which will be manned by Indigenous people who speak languages 46 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 2: who have come from the communities. In fact, the leader 47 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 2: of the call center comes from Golden Point on TWI, 48 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 2: so they can really emphathize with people from those communities 49 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 2: with their telecommunication issues. 50 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: I reckon, that's fantastic. And so this call center is 51 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: it going to be taking those calls from communities all 52 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: around Australia, not just the Northern Territory. 53 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 2: Yep, that's right, And it's remote communities. And because obviously 54 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 2: customers when they register with us and when they take 55 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 2: a service from us, you know, we obviously have their address, 56 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 2: we know where they're calling from essentially, and so what 57 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 2: we will do is we will automatically route them. They 58 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 2: won't need to dial a different number. We just automatically 59 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 2: route into that dedicated remote Indusiness communities call center. 60 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: And why have you chosen Darwin as the hub for 61 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: that call center? 62 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 2: Oh well, look, Darwin's obviously a great location for us. 63 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 2: We've got you know, around about one hundred people here 64 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 2: and we've got the capacity and we're able to recruit 65 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 2: some really bright young call center people who have got 66 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 2: a lot of passion to support their community and Andy. 67 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: You know, we were speaking before obviously about that coverage 68 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: on the Tiwii Islands, but moving more broadly, I guess 69 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: you'd say around the territory, whether you're talking about Central 70 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: Australia or up here in the top end. You know, 71 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: coverage is incredibly important to so many of us. And 72 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: I understand that there's also some work underway on some 73 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: new mobile sites. Whereabouts will those be and how they're 74 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: going to impact the community? 75 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, look absolutely, So we cover about ninety six 76 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 2: percent of the population in the Northern Territory. Obviously a 77 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 2: very big geography and it's not easy and some of 78 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 2: the topography of it is quite challenging from a mobile's 79 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 2: point of view, and so we've extend we are extending 80 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: coverage and we've put up a number of small spells 81 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 2: in place like Stuart Wells and King's Canyon and Family 82 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 2: Chasm and a lot of tourist spots as well. And 83 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 2: so we've got about seven or eight and in fact 84 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 2: we've been working with the Anti government on a co 85 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 2: investment plan for the last seven or eight years and 86 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 2: we've extended coverage to something like forty remote communities over 87 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 2: that period of time. 88 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: Are there any areas around the territory at the moment 89 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,680 Speaker 1: that's still a bit of work where you're still having 90 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: some issues and you do think that you know that 91 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: there needs to be a bit of additional investment. 92 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 2: Look, to be honest, telecommunications is very dynamic, and that's 93 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 2: because every day we're using the Internet for different things. 94 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 2: Every day technology is changing and every day the network 95 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: behaves differently. It's impacted by whether it's impacted by how 96 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 2: people are using it, and so we're constantly upgrading. And 97 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 2: so you know, as I say, the TV Islands was 98 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 2: something we need to do some build some more capacity 99 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 2: out to Group Island over on nulor Boy as well. 100 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 2: There's work going on over there the tourist destinations as well. 101 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 2: One of the things that these small cells have enables 102 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 2: to do. Basically, a small cell is just industry jargon 103 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 2: for a small mobile tower, but they're connected to the 104 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 2: rest of the network using a satellite dish rather than 105 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 2: a normal mobile tower which is connected using five and 106 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 2: the fiber is very expensive to run. Particularly we've got 107 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 2: to run out a very long way to a remote 108 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 2: location where now we can just drop in one of 109 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 2: these standalone units, the relatively economic to do it now, 110 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 2: and it will just give a little bit of local coverage. 111 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: And you were saying before that, you know that obviously 112 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: the telecommunications industry is always changing. You know, there's always 113 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: elements that are evolving. Then you throw into that mixed COVID. 114 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: How have things been over the last year trying to 115 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,600 Speaker 1: manage an organization like Telstra during COVID. 116 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,840 Speaker 2: Well, it was a pretty dramatic period for us, and 117 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 2: I can remember more or less infect it was almost 118 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 2: to the day this time last year when we made 119 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 2: the decision to move our team to work from home. 120 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 2: And we literally made the decision on a Friday night, 121 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 2: and over the course of the weekend we were twenty 122 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 2: five thousand people to work from home. And so it 123 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 2: went remarkably seamlessly, to be honest, but I think that's 124 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 2: because we've made a lot of investments in technology and 125 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 2: we've always had a philosophy Telster of working virtually. So 126 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 2: what that means is that to support actually gender diversity 127 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 2: and inclusion. We introduced this concept of all roles flex 128 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 2: seven years ago so people could actually work from home 129 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 2: and work virtually if it suited them to do something. 130 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 2: In fact, we're just announced this year that we're implementing 131 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: what we call location agnostic contracts. In other words, you know, 132 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 2: when you go for a job, you get an employment letter, 133 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 2: it normally tells you where you will be based. We've 134 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 2: removed that clause so it's no longer a requirement if 135 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 2: you want to sort of do a job that is 136 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 2: horristic historial blace out in Melbourne and you want to 137 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 2: be in Darwin, and that's what you can, I. 138 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: Reckon, that's fantastic. It's a great way of looking at things. 139 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: And you know, I do wonder and we've had this 140 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: discussion many times on our show about you know, whether 141 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: we're going to see more people moving to the regions, 142 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: places like Darwin for example, you know, and whether the 143 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: populations in places like Darwin will grow as a result 144 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: of what I've seen with COVID. And I guess if 145 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: you've got organizations like Telstra that are happy to see 146 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: their workforce work from you know, wherever, then hopefully we 147 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: do see parts of regional Australia expand. 148 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 2: I think you will. In fact, I think the stats 149 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 2: show that Darwin population is growing at the moment. And interestingly, 150 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 2: I was in Geelong, which is a reasonal you know, 151 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 2: may fairly large reasonal town outside of Melbourne last week 152 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 2: and Geelong's growing faster than ever, whereas in Melbourne. I 153 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 2: think the stats show that they've had about three thousand 154 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 2: people a month's leave the Melbourne area over the last 155 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 2: six months. So we're definitely seeing a move to regional 156 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 2: and rural Australia. I think it really poses interesting questions about, 157 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 2: you know, what the future of the CB do, and 158 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 2: maybe that becomes somewhere where we go for arts and 159 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 2: culture and sports and entertainment. So I think it's an 160 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 2: exciting time. 161 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, it certainly is. How I do want to ask 162 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: you before we wrap up this morning, I know that 163 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: Telstra has donated a couple of vehicles to the Michael 164 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: Long Foundation to help them to deliver their education programs. 165 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,479 Speaker 1: This sounds like a great initiative. 166 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 2: Yeah. Now, look, we've had a great partnership with the 167 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 2: Michael Long Foundation. I caught up with Michael yesterday. They're 168 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 2: making a real, really significant difference to young Indigenous people 169 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 2: and you know, practically obviously that means them getting out 170 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 2: into community and so they cover a lot of current, 171 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 2: a lot of territory. So we thought we've given a 172 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 2: couple of vehicles with which to support the great work 173 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 2: that they're doing and you know, we're just happy to 174 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 2: be involved. 175 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. Well, Telstra CEO Andy Penn, it's been 176 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: great to speak with you while you're in Darwin. Thanks 177 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:40,960 Speaker 1: so much for your time this morning. 178 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you. 179 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one oh four point nine three 180 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: sixty If you would like to call through today eight 181 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: nine four one one oh four nine