HITelstra Corporation Limited (known as Telstra) is Australia's largest telecommunications and media company which builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other entertainment products and services.
Telstra has a long history in Australia, originating together with Australia Post as a government department, the Postmaster-General's Department. Telstra is now fully privatised and has been undergoing a change program to become more "sales and marketing led" under its current CEO, David Thodey.
The federal government's National Broadband Network (NBN) is imposing structural and regulatory changes on Telstra, the full extent of which is yet to play out.
History[edit]
Telecom Australia logo 1975-1993.
Australian telecommunications services were originally controlled by the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG),[4] formed in 1901 as a result of Australian Federation. Prior to 1901, telecommunications were administered by each colony. On 1 July 1975, separate commissions were established by statute to replace the PMG. Responsibility for postal services was transferred to the Australian Postal Commission (Australia Post). The Australian Telecommunications Commission (ATC), trading as Telecom Australia, ran domestic telecommunication services.
In 1989, the ATC was reconstituted as the Australian Telecommunications Corporation.
In 1992, the Overseas Telecommunications Commission, a separate government body established in 1946, was merged with the Australian Telecommunications Corporation into the short-lived Australian and Overseas Telecommunications Corporation (AOTC) which continued trading under the established identities of Telecom and OTC. The AOTC was renamed to Telstra Corporation Limited in 1993. The name "Telstra" is derived from the word Telecommunication Australia (TEL from Telecommunication and STRA from Australia). The corporation then traded under the "Telstra" brand...