TLS - Telstra Corporation

[trainspotter]

Was with Telstra for 15 years with mobile phone. Got Optus sales jerk one day who had me at at weak moment. Swapped carriers. Optus was far worse billing and coverage. Swapped back to Telstra. Optus sent me a bill for $5.00 for late payment on account. Receipt on payment evidenced otherwise. They stuck to their guns and demanded their $5.00. I advised I would pay them $5.00 and 10 cents. This would cause their computer to go into overload and send me a credit for 10 cents for the next 2 years. Man at Optus said FINE. Sure enough. In an envelope was three bits of paper from Optus EVERY MONTH for 2 years evidencing my 10 cent credit. The finally sent me a cheque for the amount once they woke up I was no longer with them. Morons.

 

[NedFlanders]

Was with Telstra for 15 years with mobile phone. Got Optus sales jerk one day who had me at at weak moment. Swapped carriers. Optus was far worse billing and coverage. Swapped back to Telstra. Optus sent me a bill for $5.00 for late payment on account. Receipt on payment evidenced otherwise. They stuck to their guns and demanded their $5.00. I advised I would pay them $5.00 and 10 cents. This would cause their computer to go into overload and send me a credit for 10 cents for the next 2 years. Man at Optus said FINE. Sure enough. In an envelope was three bits of paper from Optus EVERY MONTH for 2 years evidencing my 10 cent credit. The finally sent me a cheque for the amount once they woke up I was no longer with them. Morons.

hahahaha!!! Worked for Optus for almost 10 years - billing systems are an absolute mess. Now they are charging to send invoices. will be changing carrier at the end of contract.

 

[Miner]

Was with Telstra for 15 years with mobile phone. Got Optus sales jerk one day who had me at at weak moment. Swapped carriers. Optus was far worse billing and coverage. Swapped back to Telstra. Optus sent me a bill for $5.00 for late payment on account. Receipt on payment evidenced otherwise. They stuck to their guns and demanded their $5.00. I advised I would pay them $5.00 and 10 cents. This would cause their computer to go into overload and send me a credit for 10 cents for the next 2 years. Man at Optus said FINE. Sure enough. In an envelope was three bits of paper from Optus EVERY MONTH for 2 years evidencing my 10 cent credit. The finally sent me a cheque for the amount once they woke up I was no longer with them. Morons.

I got a debt collector's notice for recovering $1.24 from Optus when in 1994 I changed my residence from Melbourne to WA (no Optus was in bush) and the bill (thanks to Australia post) failed to be redirected to my new address at minesite at the first place.

Telstra is not the best but still they listen to complaints and recently gave me credit for big pond (three months rental ) when my wife complained to Ombudsman for Telstra's own fault. The manager spoke with me long time, profuedly apologised and then on her own gave me the credit to say SORRY.

Optus did nothing in 1994 when they sent me the debt collector's notice and attempted to charge $63 for collecting back $1.24

For mobile you go to any bush or minesite it is only NEXT G works. When you really need a mobile to help you unfortunately it is only Telstra which comes to use. I switched from Telstra Mobile to 3 but now in a process going back to Telstra after contract finishes.

Do not hold Telstra share however

 

[trainspotter]

It seems Telstra has us by the tail when it comes to coverage ! It might take 37 minutes for them to get a human at the end of the phone when you call them BUT at least they listen. All to no avail I am afraid. Had an incident whereby I was OS and the mobile bill was not paid. I thought I had setup internet bank transfer whilst I was away. Got a text while OS saying bill not paid etc. Ever tried to call Telstra OS and it takes 37 minutes to get a human to talk to? Bill was escalating rapidly. Came back to debt collector and contacted Telstra with reason for non payment. THEY DID NOT GIVE A TOSS. Apparently it is your responsibility to ensure you pay their bill. Even when the mail goes missing. Or you are dead apparently.

 

[YELNATS]

As per the Telstra website:

Quote
Exemptions may apply, including eligible pensioner concession card holders.

Fee-free options are available to help you avoid these fees.
To avoid these fees, use an electronic payment option, such as one of our Direct Debit options or BPAY ®, to pay your bill from a cheque or savings account.
Unquote

There are plenty of people, old and young, who don't have internet access and who are not pensioners - they will be disadvantaged.

You could opt for Direct Debit, but who would trust them, as I agree many of their bills are inaccurate.

 

[jasonator]

Was just wondering if anyone knows what date i would use for aquiring the Bonus Telstra Shares for CGT purposes??

My online trading account shows it as being the 19/11/2006 (the date the instalment receipts were issued), but I thought that the date would have been the date the bonus shares were issued?

Can anyone clarify this/direct me to where i can find this info.

Cheers!

 

[Buckeroo]

We'll no ones saying it so I will - well done Sol.

10% profit rise in the worst economic scenario the world has seen since 1929.

After franking, dividend yield at around 11%. If you bought in at $3 what a cash cow you have found.

Cheers

 

[Rainmaker2000]

Agree, no one stands up for Sol when at least he and his US cronies knew about telecommunications technology and adding to the consumer bargain...and shareholder value...most aussie punters don't believe or don't care about above.....but for many who matter, like IINET chief executive and Optus management, they have reiterated how well Sol did in this regard

People like Ziggy Switowski and the new dude only seem to know only about how to work Telstra for its No.1 stakeholder.....the government....

I do however think it was appropriate to put the current CEO in charge cause after the NBN debacle....Sol had definitely served his purpose...It was clear TLS was never going to be an autonomous corporate identity...TLS infrastructure would be compulsorily resumed anyway.......so why not have a government type smoozing up to get the best deal

In the years to come, the irony is that TLS businesses will all be the businesses that were not even on the agenda before Sol and his cronies arrived......say what people like about them.......but there are not many legacies left by the wasteful and incompetent former TLS managements......just poor overseas acquisitions and fat dividends funded by debt

and $7 billion free cash flow next year will be an incredible phenomenon across corporate Australia in general.......what a novelty to fund dividends out of free cash flow!!!

Good onya Sol, sometimes it takes a wanker to get a good job done.....

 

[johannlo]

That may be true but if the books are so great why the SP slide then.

It must be really hard as an incumbent with dominant infrastructure to use your market size to crush the competition.... not. Yes I realise ACCC constraints, and he didn't great getting around them didn't he. Crash or crash through? I thought we learnt that lesson already

Adopting super aggressive US style corporate standover tactics in Australian old boys club govt-business relationship style = epic fail.

IT transformation completely ----ed up the creek.

Guaranteed PSTN cash cow slowly drying up and hopelessly incompetent at seizing the day w/ VOIP or pushing VOIP solutions backed up by our superior backend infrastructure (better 'pipes' if you will). I'm an onsite engineer (professional services) and the stuff our customers want to do is stuff that the idiots in HQ haven't even dreamed of yet.

Outsourcing every man and his dog to India and resulting in horrendous f--- ups both customer facing and internal facing.

THe one tick mark he has got is ramming through the NextG infrastructure, and yes its a BIG tick in my book. But on the balance he was pretty poor esp considering his wage packet.

Having finished that rant, on the other hand it would have been nice to pick up some at 3 as a defensive.... what a super divvy.

And I am telling you they know ---- all about technology. From a strategic POV it is blindingly obvious why build an 'NBN' yourself if your competitors aren't, FTTH or FTTN its just a simple question of what speeds you want to deliver and how much cash you want to spend etc. Basic capacity planning 101 and its an engineer's job not an accountants' (the accountant gives you the budget, the engineer tells you what you can do with that budget).

Maybe I'm biased as I'm from the engineering side of things (yes telco engineering.... routers and switches and VOIP)

 

[Rainmaker2000]

I do agree with much of that.....agree that share price has not looked like it benefited yet...but then its performed okay in the meltdown...but the buss is now on a growth trend whereas it was not......it's consumer facing with focus on broadband and wireless

It may sound crazy, but I think Sol's ridiculously over the top combatative style served the purpose and got the result for TLS shareholders.......I always thought, in a way TLS never wanted to build NBN but knew it was always the 'elephant' in the room....

Was it ever going to be seriously possible for TLS to build and operate NBN......I think the answer was always no..........what was the result achieved......the taxpayer will be building an over the top $43 billion build.....Sounds like a great result for TLS to me.......for the whole industry actually

Agree, transformation not seemless.....apparently IT is a real basket case

But the growth Sol got on Mobiles and especially broadband left me completely shocked

On broadband, TLS was adding customers at a quicker rate to rivals, actually gaining absolute market share...........this was a bit shocking since their product and deals are so inferior to the competition

I don't ever remember being a TLS customer, why would you be...........I now have VOIP from IInet......phone and internet for $50 flat a month....absolutely gorgeous........which is part of why I'm an IINET shareholder........but the average consumer could not give a stuff about VOIP or saving money or better service....I've never understood it....TLS is certainly not the worst buss in the top 10......but obviously IINET is a far better investment case I think.......

 

[johannlo]

IInet has a significant risk attached due to the copyright lawsuit its fighting. Bad luck that they got targeted, it could easily have been internode or any of the other major tier-2 ISPs. Agreed they seem to run an excellent shop - but any tier 2 carrier has razor thin margins and not owning your own bearers causes a lot of pain that the tier 1 guys don't have to deal with.


Back to the topic (shares) agreed TLS is looking sound as a defensive, but in this market why would you do it unless you are completely over exposed (I am already well covered w/ 25% of portfolio by WBC and QBE). The momentum in the telco market is definitely with Optus, observe recent iphone driven performance, another case of TLS missing the boat.

 

[Wysiwyg]

This David Toady () is a polished spin doctor hey. Rubbing his greedy mitts together in readiness for a massive salary.

While the comparatively meager pay packet may disconcert the new chief, Thodey will have the opportunity to increase his annual package to as much as $9.2m with bonuses if he hits short and long-term targets.

 

[freebird54]

Rivkin report just came out with a buy due to latest news f/fund sell off
I did - lots for div and big yield
ex dividend next week
recently Share analysis gave a 4.14 target and eureka 4.03

Would like to do covered calls but premiums are poor

 

[YELNATS]

Rivkin report just came out with a buy due to latest news f/fund sell off
I did - lots for div and big yield
ex dividend next week
recently Share analysis gave a 4.14 target and eureka 4.03

Would like to do covered calls but premiums are poor

Yes, I've done the same thing today with purchases on 2 of my accounts. Bought in at $3.50, with an 8% pa dividend + franking credits. Hope it doesn't collapse on Monday when it goes ex-dividend.

 

[Aussiejeff]

Wow!!

Check out the $2.3Billion trade first up this morning.

More of the gummint's Future Fund dumping, perhaps?

 

[JWR]

If I buy Telstra on Monday, will I still get the dividend? I think it will go down on Monday due to the Dow Futures being down so I'd rather buy it Monday if possible rather than today - if I can still collect the dividend?

 

[YELNATS]

No.

As indicated above, on Monday it goes ex-dividend, on Monday it goes ex-dividend. (100 chars)

 

[Real1ty]

Wow!!

Check out the $2.3Billion trade first up this morning.

More of the gummint's Future Fund dumping, perhaps?

That's what it was.

Sold to UBS who have offloaded it to fundies for 3.47 ps.

future fund can't sell any more for 3 months at least.

 

[vincent191]

Possible TLS <$3 next week. I rather wait at the side line for the next 2 weeks for the dust to settle. I sold today at and forgo the dividend and avoid the fall next week.

Next week fall it surely will by how much is the $64 question.

 

[drsmith]

Possible TLS <$3 next week.

If that's based soly on what happened with the interim dividend you will most likely be dissapointed.