Telstra is drastically simplifying its services in an effort to “improve customer experience”
A smaller range of plans and fewer complex charges form the backbone of Telstra's ambitious new approach.
In the wake of significant shifts in the broadband and mobile industry thanks to the rollout of the NBN, Telstra has today revealed the business strategy it hopes will establish the telco as the market leader over the next three years.
More than a vague promise of delivering better value to customers, this new strategy consists of a number of clearly-defined goals that aim to drastically simplify Telstra's products and services as well as streamline customer support. Perhaps the most striking of these goals is the widescale removal of more than 1,800 consumer and small business plans in favour of just 20 core plans. While this sounds like an extreme move, Telstra claims that it will "remove complexity" and "provide cost certainty" for customers, ultimately resulting in a less painful service.
The rollout of these new plans will begin in July when Telstra launches a range of simplified post-paid plans that feature no excess data charges. Further improvements such as more options for customer self-service and extra incentives for customers paying for multiple Telstra services will roll out in the lead up to 30 June 2019, with Telstra intending for all existing customers to be migrated to the new plans by 30 June 2021.
To complement the paring down of its plans, Telstra is also simplifying its internal operations with the aim of streamlining customer service and support. While specific details remain undisclosed, the clearest goal of this organisational restructuring is to cut the need for customer service calls down by two-thirds over the next three years. Unfortunately, this will involve the loss of 8,000 employees and contractors. A new transitional program will be rolled out to help these employees find new jobs in the industry, and Telstra is pledging up to $50 million to fund the program.
As well as investing up to $3 billion in this new strategy, Telstra will leverage its upcoming 5G network to better serve its customers.
"The network investments have been critical as Telstra builds capability in software defined networking and prepares to lead the market and win in 5G," said Telstra CEO Andrew Penn. "We will be network ready in the first half of FY19 with full rollout to capital cities, regional centres and other high demand areas by FY20."
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