Uncharted Territory: What it’s like to work in Outback Oz

As an Area General Manager in the Northern Territory, there is no such thing as a typical day and no typical customer story either.

I remember going out to meet a teacher who was having trouble getting an internet connection having just moved to Hermannsburg in the Territory.

Our systems were showing her ‘residential address’ as non-existent as she was housed in a mobile home, but with the help from a number of teams across the business including the Alice Springs store we managed to get her connected to an ADSL2 service.

That is just one of the very unique customer issues we see here in the Northern Territory – Australia’s least densely populated state, with 246,300 residents spread over 1,349,000sq km, and around 45 per cent of the population living outside the urban centre.

With such a great area to cover, the digital divide is substantial in the Territory and we’re working closely with local stakeholders to help overcome the challenges faced by our customers.

Telstra’s co-investment in the federal Mobile Black Spot Program and the $30 million joint infrastructure agreement with the NT Government will help deliver state-of-the-art mobile services to a further 18 new sites in the Territory over the next three years.

This work is critical to supporting local businesses, tourism, and the delivery of essential health and education services.

But it is not just about connecting customers; my team and I are focused on educating the community about technology and the opportunities it can provide them.

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