David Thodey, Telstra CEO, has $11bn burning a hole in his pocket. I am referring to the payment Telstra will receive from the government as its hands over it’s traditional business to the National Broadband Network Company. It’s a bit like a gigantic severance package – here’s $11bn for you to go and pursue other interests. … [Read more...]
Transform between the flags!
Summertime brings the seasonal “swim between the flags” warnings to beach goers. Swimmers often get into difficulty by venturing into an unseen rip, or assuming that their capabilities are more than adequate for the conditions. It is remarkably similar in the business world. … [Read more...]
Designing the NBN menu – food or meals?
October is traditionally the month when the streets of Beijing fill with cabbages. Everywhere truck loads of them are being shipped into the city and distributed to the population who eagerly take them home and squirrel them away. Large stockpiles can be seen on balconies, pavements and against walls covered by makeshift tarpaulin. To the observer it is difficult to know whether to smile or panic about this sudden, well executed, cabbage invasion in a city of 17m people. When Kevin Rudd … [Read more...]
Vodafone & Hutchison – merge or wither
When our local ice-cream parlour closed down recently there was much disappointment within the local community. “We’ll have to buy our ice-creams from McDonald’s next door instead” many people said with a sigh. The parlour’s ice-cream was nice, but not sufficiently compelling to enough people to compete against other local vendors. The business was unprofitable and could not survive. There are lessons in this unfortunate tale for the Australian telecoms market. … [Read more...]