Digital Disruption at Telstra: A Report for ICT710, Semester 1, 2019

This report analyzes Telstra's response to digital disruption in the telecommunications industry. It begins with an introduction to Telstra, highlighting its position as a major Australian telecommunications company and the challenges posed by digital disruption. The report then delves into Telstra's digital disruption portfolio, detailing its strategic approach, including investments in technology and cultural changes. It outlines the three tiers of Telstra's digital transformation portfolio, including quick wins, core investments, and infrastructure investments, and provides specific examples, such as the use of social media and mobile applications. The report further examines the effects of digital disruption on Telstra, including increased digital transactions, customer growth, and improved network efficiency. The Internet of Things (IoT) is also mentioned as a key area for future digital agenda. The report concludes by referencing key sources, providing a comprehensive overview of Telstra's digital transformation journey.

1
Name:
Course
Professor’s name
University name
City, State
Date of submission

2
Introduction
Telstra is the biggest telecommunication company in Australia operating and building
telecommunication networks, internet access, market voices, pay television, mobile and other
products. However, digital disruption in the telecommunication industry has led to many
corporations which is requiring the companies to undergo a change in strategy to be more
customer centric and customer focused (Gilbert, 2015). Although 45% of Australian companies
don’t view digital disruption as a boardroom concern, Telstra digital disruption as a priority.
Telstra Digital disruption portfolio
For Telstra, digital innovation requires provision of value for both its employees and
customers. Disruption requires value exchange for every party involved. Telstra has made a
digital core in strategy and operational approach where the aim is to drive better experiences
with the customers. The organization has been trying to embrace the disruption and digital
transformation by combining significant investment in technology and the change in culture to
achieve long term digital transformational change (Karimi, and Walter, 2015). Telstra is
currently in the third year of its digital agenda.
Its digital disruption started with the creation of a retail digital channel group and
numerous contact centers. With its digital strategy, Telstra aims at expanding its digital
capabilities to meet a wider range of businesses. While implementing the digital disruption
strategy, the company had to be digitally aligned. All the digital operations needed to be part of
the intended primary operational framework. Telstra digital transformational portfolio has three

3
tiers; visible and quick wins, core investment into commercial activities and core infrastructure
investments.
Some of the quick wins for Telstra was the servicing of its large customer base through
the social media channels while its core investment infrastructure was replacing the layer of
identity at Telstra. This was a capital intensive project. In doing this, Telstra was migrating its
customer’s transactions into the digital platform. It costs almost $1 to complete a paper bill to a
customer. Currently, Telstra has over 3 million customers in Australia alone. This will be a
massive bill for the company. With the introduction of social media communication like
Facebook communication with customers, the company has drastically reduced its operational
overheads (Kenney, Rouvinen, and Zysman, 2015). The introduction of a 24/7 mobile app was a
digital success for the company. Facebook has a lot of users, tapping into social media platforms
and mobile application has ensured that customers who are not interested in administrative
processes like bill management can use the social or mobile app. Facebook was an experimental
project and did not take off, although the mobile app is still a success.
Effects of digital disruption
After a three year of digital experimentation, Telstra has a total of 45% of its transactions
done digitally. The customers have grown tremendously due to easy access and its online
interactions have grown from 50 million to more than 260 million annually (McCosker, 2017).
Sales volume and transactions are the key metrics Telstra uses to measure its digital success. The
two have grown and the network have improved to boost efficiency. The internet of Things (ioT)
is the next disruptive digital agenda by the company for block chain movement.

4
References
Gilbert, R.J., 2015. E-books: A tale of digital disruption. Journal of Economic
Perspectives, 29(3), pp.165-84.
Karimi, J. and Walter, Z., 2015. The role of dynamic capabilities in responding to digital
disruption: A factor-based study of the newspaper industry. Journal of Management Information
Systems, 32(1), pp.39-81.
Kenney, M., Rouvinen, P. and Zysman, J., 2015. The digital disruption and its societal
impacts. Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, 15(1), pp.1-4.
McCosker, A., 2017. Social media work: reshaping organisational communications, extracting
digital value. Media International Australia, 163(1), pp.122-136.