When Telstra announced its new simplified business strategy, dubbed "Telstra2022", it was revealed that this would result in the cutting of over 8,000 employees and contractors as well as a drastic reduction in the number of plans the telco offers.
"We will simplify our products by retiring more than 1,800 plans and introducing 20 core plans", Telstra announced in its statement regarding its consumer and small business customers.
While it isn’t explicitly mentioned, this appears to be in relation to the telco’s entire suite of services, ranging from mobile to broadband and NBN. While this will likely reduce the confusion that comes with choosing a new plan, it may push some existing customers into less-than-ideal compromises when the time comes to switch.
"Excess data charges are a thing of the past"
Another key alteration that Telstra detailed is "peace of mind data across a range of new post-paid plans", which will see the telco following a similar route to Vodafone’s 'unlimited' plans, which offer a throttled download speed once a user has reached their data cap rather than slap them with excess data charges.
While this new cap-free data option is part of the Telstra2022 strategy, we won’t have to wait that long to see it in action. "Our customers will start to benefit from this simplified approach in July", Telstra’s statement assures us.
Beyond this offer, "four more major product and service experiences will be progressively announced in the lead up to June 2019", so we can expect some more competitive features from Telstra plans over the course of the next 12 months.
The times they are a changin'
The reduction of plan options and introduction of 'peace of mind' data plans are the most immediate changes that will affect your everyday Telstra customer, but this only comprises one of the Telstra2022 strategy’s core pillars.
The other pillars include forming a separate and standalone infrastructure business, with a new CEO leading the way for the future of copper and HFC cabling as well as data centres, exchanges and even subsea cabling.
Telstra’s entire employment structure will also experience a dramatic shift in order to "best serve the customer", and this "agile" approach will result in the reduction of 8,000 roles, including executive and management positions.
This is far from excellent news for the employees and contractors that will have to look elsewhere for work, but Telstra has at least dedicated $5 million to helping the affected staff with their transition to a role in a new company.
