Telstra Chief Executive, David Thodey (pictured), is interested in acquiring companies with product development and software capabilities, as it shifts its focus from telecommunications engineering to customer services and digital households.
In an interview with ABC TV (via Sydney Morning Herald), Thodey said, “'We will keep expanding our product portfolio … but there are new opportunities coming along that may provide us with opportunities to do acquisitions. It is about acquiring capabilities, rather than bolt-ons.''
Thodey said that while Telstra is known for its “engineering culture'', this would become redundant once the national broadband network is up and running, because the company would no longer have a telephone network to maintain.
''We have got to become a sales- and marketing-led company - customers at the centre of everything we do. So we have got a big cultural change to go through.''
