Telstra dives into big pond of diversity

Telstra CEO, David Thodey

Australia's telco giant may have one monkey off its back after its National Broadband Network (NBN) deal, but its boss says it now has its sights set on diversifying the business and satisfying unhappy customers.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey concedes the NBN deal is yet to be signed off by shareholders, but is confident that the company's $11 billion non-binding financial agreement with the federal government will hold.

"It's very important to understand that Telstra, the board and myself, could not sign a non-binding contract unless we believed it was in the best interest of our shareholders," Mr Thodey told AAP.

After 12 months of NBN negotiations with the government, Mr Thodey says he now is determined to change the way Telstra does business and is focusing on new revenue channels.

At the glitzy, star-studded Sydney launch of Telstra's latest retail offering, the T-Box, which is the launch pad in its quest to digitalise home entertainment, Mr Thodey told AAP the company was looking at new acquisitions, but would not be drawn on specifics.

"As we change the business from a very strong reliance on fixed-voice services, we've got to find new revenue streams that allow us to compete in new, different ways," Mr Thodey said.

The business was looking at new technologies and capabilities to build its portfolio of products, which could incorporate new media, content and mobile applications.

Mr Thodey said Telstra wanted to develop the core business of telecommunications.

"It's critically important for Telstra to have a number of growth initiatives for us going forward," he said.

"We've got to keep growing the business, got to keep it dynamic, agile and really moving ahead and leading people in entertainment (and) communications."

Mr Thodey has cited improving customer service as his top priority since his appointment just over a year ago.

Since his appointment, complaints have dropped 33 per cent, from the 10,000 Telstra received in the previous year under previous boss Sol Trujillo, but he said Telstra can do better, aiming to reduce the number by another third.

The company was ahead of schedule to deliver NSW public school classrooms high-speed broadband, Mr Thodey said.

The $280 million project was tipped for completion in September, but Mr Thodey said it was likely to be ready before that.

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