Telecom has announced that its ICT services business, Gen-i, will not participate in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s tender for the provision of telecommunications services across Australia.
“Our strategy for growth in Australia means an investment in our people and capabilities, with a focus on building our core competencies,” said Chris Quin, CEO for Gen-i Australasia, in a statement.
“The nature of CBA’s network means it is difficult to leverage this capability for other clients in the mid-market, where we focus on building our scale and capabilities for repeatable solutions.”
This decision does not impact Telecom's financial guidance, the statement says, despite the fact the 10-year contract is estimated to be worth A$1.3 billion.
Michael Harte, CBA's CIO, said Gen-i will be supporting the bank in the transition to a new provider and continuing work on other selected services outside of the RFP.
Gen-i has been providing the Bank with the majority of its telecommunications services since 2000, with its current agreement coming to the end of February 2009.
Quin says Gen-i is proud to have been the Bank’s ICT partner for the last eight years.
“In that time, we have delivered a number of large scale and complex projects designed to overhaul the Bank’s core telecommunications and business operations to better meet its strategic goals. We have worked closely with the CBA team to deliver a range of benefits to the Bank, including greater commercial flexibility, cost savings and increased operational efficiency.
“We also worked with the Bank to develop its long-term strategy and roadmap for telecommunications and ICT services.”