Optus CEO defends hack response; unveils new products and is silent on Gladys Berejiklian

On a day rival Telstra’s tie-up with TPG was overruled, Optus unveiled new tech and new contracts but avoided responding to questions about its enterprises boss, Gladys Berejiklian.

It didn’t quite instil the hype of an Apple product launch - and Kelly Bayer Rosmarin didn’t wear a black skivvy - but Australia’s second-biggest telco tried to turn up the hype at its inaugural Optus Tech Day.

New products showcased included SubHub, an Australian-first subscription management platform that offers discounts across products such as Netflix; and a game called Call Effects, which helps customers choose what to cook for dinner or even predict their future.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, who runs Enterprise and Business for Optus, was in attendance at the Tech Day and, when asked about the soon-to-be released report by the Independent Commission Against Corruption into her conduct running the state, said she had no comment.

Her team had a busy day of announcements. The telco launched a “major technology tie-up” with Lendlease.

The real estate giant will transition all mobile and data services to Optus, taking in 3000 services in 80 locations across Australia, and work together on a property insights tool.

Also announced at the Tech Day was a bespoke 5G Fixed Wireless Access product for businesses, with Super Retail partnering on the project for its distribution centre in Queensland.

“The business is going from strength to strength in many different brands,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“That’s just one example of what we’re able to do. What is really critical for us in the business and enterprise space is to make sure we have that enterprise and business grade capacity, that reliability, the strength of network and also the ability to be multiple places offering the best technology available.”

Ms Berejiklian also pointed to a partnership with Toowoomba Council in Queensland, where Optus is using Internet of Things technology to support the council in finding leaks in the water system by analysing water meters.

Optus also announced a five-year contract with Couriers­Please, which will migrate a “significant portion” of its IT vendor landscape to Optus.

It’s been more than 18 months since Ms Berejiklian quit as premier due to an ongoing investigation by ICAC into her then-­secret relationship with disgraced Liberal Daryl Maguire.

That report is expected before the end of next week.

Optus CEO Ms Bayer Rosmarin also declined to comment on Ms Berejiklian’s future, should the corruption watchdog report be critical of the former premier’s behaviour in relation to Mr Maguire: “I can’t really talk about something where I’ve seen no outcomes,” she said.

The Optus Tech Day clashed with an announcement by the Australian Competition Tribunal that it had rejected a $1.8bn network sharing plan between Telstra and TPG in regional Australia.

Optus had actively campaigned against the tie-up on the grounds that allowing the first and third-biggest carriers to join forces would strengthen Telstra’s dominance and reduce competition in the regions.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin said she was delighted with the decision, which would give Optus the confidence to continue investing for people in regional Australia.

“What they want is more investment in connectivity, more innovation and connectivity and more options and if you have a competitive market, you maximise the chance of that occurring,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.

The company plans to spend $1.6bn on infrastructure and services in Australia this year.

As a result of the tribunal decision, it will now push ahead with investments in Katherine in the Northern Territory, Augusta and Margaret River in Western Australia, and Clarence River in NSW, among other locations.

Gladys Berejiklian with disgraced former NSW MP Daryl Maguire.

Optus is on the front foot with positive messaging after a major data hack late last year saw up to 10 million current and former customers’ data leaked.

Optus was attacked over the hack, with members of the government questioning how the telco heavyweight could have allowed customer data to be accessed.

The telco is focused on the “pursuit of becoming the most loved everyday brand,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.

Her view of the hack was that the incident was handled “very ­effectively … our customers appreciated that”.

By “very effective“ she said that Optus was the one that discovered the hack in the first place.

It had contacted every single high risk potential customer affected within four days.

The telco added that there was still “not one known incidence of a crime or financial harm being perpetrated against our customers through misuse of this data”.