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National electricity retailer TrustPower furthered its ambition to become a full-service telecommunications company with the purchase of niche Oamaru-based telco CallSouth and call centre Pulse Business Solutions.
TrustPower community relations manager Graeme Purches said the company wanted to become a full-service telco across New Zealand, and a one-stop shop for its customers to access telco and electricity services.
Trustpower said it had always wanted to extend its phone tolls service through its Bay of Plenty-based company Connect.
He declined to reveal the cost of either acquisition.
It was relatively easy for an electricity company to move into the phone and internet market because its customer and billing services could easily adopt telco customers, said Purches. "A lot of customers are looking for simplified bills and one-stop shops, and we have a good relationship with our customers, so it is a logical extension to our business."
TrustPower chief executive Keith Tempest said it had used the services from Pulse for several years and nearly half of its 220,000 customers were in the South Island.
"Continuing to service South Island customers from a contact centre outside our Tauranga base fits well with TrustPower's goal of providing outstanding customer service to our rural customer base."
CallSouth and Pulse Business Solutions chief executive Peter Roborgh said it was a positive step for the companies and for Oamaru, particularly as TrustPower had been a major client for more than six years.
Shares in TrustPower closed up 10c at $8.20 yesterday.
