Few jobs lost in Telecom reshuffle

By PETER GRIFFIN

Telecom expects few job losses among its 1200 staff in Australia as it seeks to combine its outsourcing arm Telecom New Zealand Australia and telecoms provider AAPT.

The move appears to be aimed at strengthening the AAPT brand and follows an extensive marketing campaign this year to attract higher value customers to its services.

It does not have as strong a brand presence as competitors Telstra and Optus but has so far avoided radical rebranding.

In August AAPT brought its internet subsidiary, Connect, further into the organisation and changed its sales structure so that one sales force could more easily sell telephone and internet products.

TCNZA handles telecoms outsourcing contracts for large corporate and Government customers.

The Australian business generates A$1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in revenue for Telecom but is only just beginning to increase revenue again after off-loading thousands of low-value customers.

Telecom's chief information officer Mark Ratcliffe will oversee the transition, which includes a consolidation of locations.

Rather than report to Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung's executive team in Australia, the new chief executive at AAPT Jonathan Stretch will oversee all operations across the Tasman.

Gattung said the restructuring would not affect Telecom's relationship with its Australian customers.

"We don't want to crash those together in a way that will in any way undermine our service to our corporate customers like the Commonwealth Bank or Toll Holdings," she told the Australian newspaper.

Telecom spokesman John Goulter told the Herald that after extensive restructuring to cut costs at AAPT, the latest move was more about creating a "clearer brand".

"It's not driven as a cost-saving thing. They've been undertaking stringent cost-saving methods for the last couple of years," he said.

"While there will be some staff positions lost, the number will be quite small."

Telecom spent A$1.8 acquiring AAPT and subsequently writing down its book value by $850 million.