Our content licensing agreement with AAP stipulates that the material must be taken down 30 days from the date of publication. Therefore this particular story, having exceeded that time frame, has expired. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Our content licensing agreement with AAP stipulates that the material must be taken down 30 days from the date of publication. Therefore this particular story, having exceeded that time frame, has expired. We apologise for any inconvenience.
This is such great news.
I know some of my ex-workmates still working at Telstra are extremely happy and relieved.
The nightmare of Sol is finally over - lets hope his successor has a plan for the future, and not just for quarterly profits.
"I know some of my ex-workmates still working at Telstra are extremely happy and relieved".
Why, were they asked to do something (like work maybe).
As far as I can see, Telstra is still an employer of many many Australian workers, and has not done any where near as much outsourcing to India as some of it's competitors. But I may be wrong, so please enlighten me.
'Why, were they asked to do something (like work maybe).'
You seem a little bitter - for your own reasons I suspect with comments such as that.
If only you were a fly on the wall - I have worked at Telstra, and in the private sector, let me say there are some great hard working people at Telstra.
In my time at Telstra I saw massive monetary allocations to outsourced training for Telstra employees - compiled with a managerial shiney stamp of approval. This training was at times blowing out to 10 thousand dollars for a 5 page document which at times - was completely wrong or had a 6 month life span.
Help desk staff have seen huge redundancies in centers concentrating purely on the cost to run the site. These redundencies saw many of experience staff leave taking with them years of knowledge. Some say after 6 months the centres should have been back to status quo. That was 2 years ago - Telstra now it seems has a permanent stamp for bad customer service, and I believe this has contributed to that fact. In my humblest of opinions, I believe the cost saved in running the site - is far out weighed by the cost in alienating customers by poor, improperly trained centers.
Some of these centers that may have covered a plethora of streams (adsl, cable and next G) don't cover next G anymore - it goes overseas .
Considering Next G has so many issues - and adsl and cable 'usually' does not require maintenance - I would say staff numbers would continue to dwindle.
Except for the employees at Eldorado(perth), Brisbane, Bendigo and the Gold Coast. Emails are flooding through call centres at the moment stating these 4 call centres are on the chopping block.
Yes, just heard, news hot off the presses is that Sol is going to sack 2000 of us before he goes... He's such a star!
hey guys, when you say your telstra, are you 'Telstra' or UCMS, or Teletech etc.
Just wondering, because I havent heard any rumours of people getting the axe in Telstra itself.
Good riddance to an arrogant American.
It's time boards of large companies in Australia stopped hiring overseas thugs to do their dirty work.
If the job needs doing, choose one of our own......./Chris
Why don't you apply Chris. Sounds like you have all the answers.
Arrogance towards Government intervention YES, but not towards the shareholders and customers imho.
Sol came from the US, where profits are everything, and competition policy, ethics etc come a poor second.
But in Australia, both the government and the citizenry expect that companies 'entrusted' with a natural monopoly act fairly and in the public interest, though they have a right to make money as well. But if such a company abuses that trust, the public opinion will go strongly against that company, and the public will no longer trust them, potentially for decades.
Sol came in and made a point of saying he was there solely to represent shareholder interest... and would not work within a 'constrained competition policy' framework. The law as it existed prior to Sol's arrival stipulated that Telstra HAD to provide competitor access etc. Sol didn't like it, but it was 'the law of the land' since before he arrived. By renouncing this law (refusing to provide reasonable access, making retail prices lower than wholesale, etc etc) Sol got the Howard government off-side, and then he managed to ALSO do this with the Rudd government. The way people expect such things to be worked out in Australia is with some negotiation with the relevant minister, to get a fair framework. Sol could have proposed at any time in the past 36 months that Telstra would own 75% of the national broadband infrastructure, but the other telcos could also own their respective market share's worth of shares, and there would be an independent board, setting just fair recovery prices to yield a 16% return on the infrastructure, and everyone could do their own retailing and bundling of offers on top of the similar wholesale access. But instead Sol kept re-stating that it was either going to be all owned by Telstra or he would take his bat and ball and go home. It was arrogance that got Telstra thrown out of the NBN tender. The one good thing was that, having been excluded Telstra then started to do 'spoiler marketing' like they'd never done before... announcing 21MBps then 42MBps wireless capability roll-out in an attempt to prevent other bidders from getting financial backing for their plans. Now, if only Telstra will deliver on these, at a fair price, the result may not be too bad. The government should never have promoted a 'one size fits all' for a country like Australia, as the existing Fed-subsidied Optus satellite broadband for truly-remote farms is clearly the best solution for them.
Perhaps Sol's replacement will learn that a bit more discussion and compromise will get you more in an Australian context.
Actually, Sol read it precisely. He was not brought in to be a government lap dog. Like it or not, he was brought in to kick some heads. Telstra was being systematically screwed over, having to borrow more and more money to pay out as dividends to keep the share price artificially inflated for the T1 and T2 sell-offs, while at the same time providing more and more assistance to its competitors to the point where even where they had infrastructure of their own (e.g. Optus), it was still cheaper to use Telstra's. Also, it is worth noting that it is a legal requirement for a CEO to act in the best interests of the shareholders. It may give you a warm and fuzzy feeling for companies to act like public charities, but they are not and would not survive very long if they tried to be.
I cannot recall Sol or his sidekicks ever making any comment about not wanting to provide access. Whatever you may think of him, he probably did enough homework before accepting the job to know that like other countries, the incumbent telco in Australia has to provide access. The argument has always been about the price. They have consistently stated that if they are to provide access, it has to be on a commercial basis. Since the regulated price is based on the incremental costs alone, requiring Telstra to pick up the fixed costs components of what they sell amounts to a significant subsidy, no matter how you look at it.
As for proposing a 75/25 shared NBN, that's an interesting one. I assume that as 75% owner, you would accept that Telstra would get its way in all decisions, effectively voting out the measly 25% 'owners'. Of course not! What these hare-brained schemes really mean is that Telstra pays for 75% of the cost, but would not have 75% control. In fact, the bit players would still want to hold sway over what is done with the network. Little wonder they keep saying that they are not interested in any shared scheme.
As for the 21Mbps wireless broadband, they have been talking about that for a good year, long before they were pushed out of the NBN. It may very well be "spoiler marketing" (although less emotive people simply refer to it as "competition"), but it was hardly solely in response to the NBN decision.
I note that Internode has launched a FTTH service. This simply proves that companies don't need to be fat and lazy and just leech off Telstra. If they get off their fat and lazy backsides and actually build something, then we might see some real competition in this country rather than the pathetic badge engineering exercise we have now.
I worked for one of Sol's US cronies at Telstra and it was the most unpleasant work experience of my life. Totally and utterly lacking in integrity, managed by fear and implied threat and generally treated staff like crap. All I can say is that Telstra was the worst company I have ever worked for and I am glad I left and feel happy that this era of revolting executive behaviour may be over. Telstra's HR department should be ashamed of itself as well for rolling over and being too scared to stand up to these people.
There is a God!
By all means, all the best for the future Sol. I do wish you well. But I can't escape from the complete picture here - I am glad that Telstra will finally be an Amigo-free zone very soon.
On the 20th June a boatload of champagne corks will be popping.
I mean the 30th June. :-p
My only hope is that Sol does not judge all Australians by the redneck selfseeking ockers that badmouth him.
Their problem is that Sol was tough (but fair) and would not allow foreign opponents to walk all over Telstra.
Hope our Government doesn't sell Australia down the drain and pay a foreign company $4.7 billion to take control of Australia's NBN.
Sydney Lawrence - You are the biggest redneck to surface on this site as judged by your comments here. How do you know Sol was fair? you don't even work for Telstra...
'you don't even work for Telstra...'
This is so true - the sideline commentators that have an intimate knowledge of a company they have never seen the inside of.
Trust me, people that have worked for and still work for Telstra cannot wait to see the back of this Yankee Bozo.
Any Australian worth their salt could care less of Sols opinion.
Adios Amigo!
Some people in USA might not like to "own" Sol, remember he comes from Mexico. One assumes he chooses to work overseas because a number of companies in USA want more than just their money back. One has to wonder how a board/ recruiting company didn't research the disasters he created. Maybe they did and thought he had learnt from his mistakes? We will only see the problems emerge over the next year or so they are buried for now.
Sydney, how can a foreign company "take control" of the NBN when the government is a 50% shareholder? An interesting definition of "control".
Telstra spends over a billion dollars every year with foreign multinational suppliers rather than Australian companies. Yes, it employs an ever-shrinking number of Australians, but so does every other company domiciled here.
This positioning you have of Telstra as some sort of can-do-no-wrong, glorious, "all-Australian" enterprise is not based in reality.
Telstra's sole ambition is to make money for its shareholders. Nothing more, nohing less.
And given the way the share price has tanked since T2, it has not even been particularly succssful at that endeavour. When compared globally to other Telcos, its share performance is quite ordinary.
Even SingTel shares are in the black over the same period. SingTel runs debt at an astonishingly low 10% of net assets - something it has been criticised for in the past - but now in the current debt-averse financial meltdown, this business approach looks positively heroic and visionary.
Tough (but fair) and always showing a firm commitment to his shareholders, which is what a CEO has an obligation to do. Having been under all sorts of pressure from the Government, and copping constant crap from his rank and file, I'll bet he will be glad to get away from all of the "redneck self seeking ockers that badmouthed him" over the time he was at the helm, and I am sure he'll survive on the remuneration received during the period.
Lets hope soon the recovery can commence. Trujillo has sacrificed service and flexibility for the bottom line short term gain. He has forgotten in his lofty silver tower that customers will ultimately determine the fate of a company, not shareholders. Customers needs and expectations have been abandoned during this terrible time. Unscrupulous (seen by some as tough business decisions) behaviour has lead to the departure of many a loyal customer.
There is more to Mr Trujillo's departure than meets the common persons eye! Pity I respect it not being in the public domain! I'll write a book one day! You'll get that draft Sol!
TELSTRA - DO NOT PROMOTE INTERNALLY - UNLESS YOU WANT SOL CLONES! LOOK OUTSIDE THE SQUARE! THE EXECUTIVE TEAM NEEDS A MAJOR RESHUFFLE. MY ADVISE TO THEM IS TO LOOK FOR OTHER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE TELSTRA! THATS WHAT TELSTRA TOLD ME ONCE! THE BOARD - PLEASE REGROUP AND RESTRUCTURE! BIG CHANGES ARE NEEDED AT THE TIME! IF THEY WERE ALL PRPEARED NOT TO CHALLENGE SOL THEY ARE USELESS CLONES! I REPEAT DO NOT PROMOTE INTERNALLY! HR EXECUTIVES AND HIGH LEVEL EXECUTIVES - TIME TO LOOK FOR ANOTHER JOB!
Why are you posting in capitals. (?) Or do you lack normal communication skills ?
is there a specific criteria I must follow? U dont like capitals? Opps I meant "You" (sorry). Are you a senior executive or do you have interests in the company? Nice try for diversion! Think about it... Who on public record internally from the exec team has ever challenged Sol? This man cant be right all the time! Internal Candidates time to start showing some courage and balls! He'll be gone sooner than later...
Sol wasn't promoted internally, he was imported which basically means that Telstra was exporting jobs, they were just doing it a little differently than they do with front line workers.
Despite all the left-wing claptrap expressed by some of the pro-Telstra nutters here, race and colour aren't issues. What is the issue is that someone is brought here to run what was once an Australian icon but now just another company listed on the ASX, there to serve shareholders at any cost, including at the cost of customer service and reliability.
What Anonymous above has failed to note is that Telstra didn't promote from within last time around, or the time before that with Ziggy Switcowski (sorry, my Polish is a bit off on a Friday) or even before that with Frank Blount. All three of the above certainly could have done a worse job but the bottom line is that none of them gave a stuff about customers - only shareholder(s).
So the task of headhunting has not worked. Maybe promoting from within will make the new CEO understand that external appointments have harmed Telstra's reputation and their ability to roll out services that are reliable and that everyone can afford to use.
What about what your "mates the right wing pro-Telstra clap trap boys are saying"? Keeping in mind they out number the humans about 250:1.
ZD Net yesterday: "The federal coalition, in contrast, paid tribute to Trujillo, saying he had made Telstra one of the world's most successful telecommunications providers... "The opposition's broadband and communications spokesman Nick Minchin said Trujillo provided strong leadership and vision in transforming Telstra....
And why wouldn't they love Sol? After all Telstra is a far right company, as witnessed by their current CEO, Chairman, Execs and their right wing anti worker policies.
So just admit it Mel, *without getting s---tty and starting another flare up* but if it wasn't for your personal situation/grudge with Telstra's IRC, you'd be 100% behind Telstra because really, they stand for all you hold dearly, otherwise. Ultra conservatism, master/servant, anti union, pro Liberal party and the list goes on.
Although for once I agree with you and I'm yahooing too, seems your Liberal hacks are saying the complete opposite to both you and I and not yahooing, Mel. Curious.
I must do a woops too Mel, seems my Jaon went missing in hyperspace.
Jason
Pity you don't...................go missing that is. Your so full of yourself, you arrogant tool.
What like your brain at birth.
Ooh, I can be childish too, stupid.
Pity you don't...................go missing that is. Your so full of yourself, you arrogant tool.
Typical Watchdog, Sommersberg, anonymous response, when put on the spot.
aussie, aussie, aussie boss 4 telstra oiu oiu oiu
Yeah, what about Ray Williams, or his mate Brad Cooper ......real good Aussie bosses. You'd probably like that ?
Anonymous, your ignorance is made public here for all to see. Sol was born in the United States and is a citizen of the United States.
Telstra opponents saw Sol as the person who was preventing them from achieving the break-up of Telstra hence their constant attacks.
The racism they demonstrated, the Prime Minister of Australia included, was more a sad reflection on them rather than on Sol.
Those employees who complain should realize how fortunate they are to have a job, a fact that many Australians will realize in the years ahead.
Google Chrome OS demonstration
Vice President of Product Marketing Sundar Pichai gives a virtual tour of Google's new operating system, Chrom… Watch it now
Malcolm Turnbull's ghost twitterer
At the Sydney Media140 conference several weeks ago, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull admitted he doesn't pe… Watch it now
Surf the Net like it's 1991 with Gopher
The old Gopher protocol is not dead. In fact, it even has Twitter! Here's how to access it.… Watch it now
How do you build a smarter planet?
Having problems with complex data center? Simplify your data center now.
Invisible Particls to reappear
12 days without ADSL: A local loop eulogy
An abridged history of the Aussie internet
Broadband speedtest
How fast is your Internet connection?
Calculate the speed here.
Optus Deal
Broadband + home phone + PlayStation®3 in a single package price!
Click here for more!
Best Laptops
Check out the best laptops here!
Click here for more.
He might have done us all good as our super funds will have Telstra stocks, but held back Australian Telecomms immensely.
I believe Telstra needs to be split into two (maybe three). Network Infrastrusture (maybe separated into mobile and land line) and Retail.
Network Infrastructure needs to provide the same level of service to all retailers at the SAME price (maybe call it Telcom for nostalgia :).
Telstra Retail operates like everyone else, competing on service and price rather than because you have no other option...