Telstra seeking new U.S. identity

The brand name “Telstra” is predominantly associated with the Australian telephone company now facing privatization in its homeland. But Telstra Inc. is looking to make a different name for itself.

The U.S. subsidiary of Telstra wants to be known for operating the largest Internet Protocol backbone network in Asia, according to the Gartner Group, and particularly wants U.S. service providers to recognize its value as a potential supplier.

The key thing for us is letting people know that we are here and we are doing this,” says Dan Kerth, president and COO of Telstra Inc. We need to get the word out a little bit more – what we can do with our brand. We are a very large organization.”

Key to that organization is REACH, Telstra’s Asian wholesale operation. Gartner has ranked REACH as the top IP backbone operator in Asia for the past four years.

“We’ve had people throughout Asia for 50-plus years,” says Kerth. “Customers, whether an enterprise or carrier, understand the Telstra brand and our capabilities in Asia. We have fully managed capabilities of the network, not just the coverage. We’ve got the people on the ground. It takes a lot of time to build that expertise. Like in the U.S., you have to deal with the last mile and have relationships with those local carriers.”

This month, Telstra announced its Service Provider Solutions, a set of customizable data communications services for U.S. carriers, service providers, resellers and system integrators. Telstra provides customizable service level agreements and 24-7 support for these services, designed to enable U.S. service providers to meet the demands of their customers for connections into Asia.

Substantial IT growth in the Asian region is fueling customer demand, Kerth says. Companies are putting in support for their sales teams in rapidly expanding markets such as China or support outsourced services in India and elsewhere.

“One thing that we do a bit differently is to try to understand a bit more about who is that CLEC or another carrier or integrator, to try to understand who their end customer is,” Kerth says. “We can work through a customer SLA with them. That’s really been another really key differentiator for us.”