Telstra already has cut its workforce by 26,000 over the past four years. After Telstra announced the latest cuts, Liberal, Labor and National MPs warned they would not tolerate any further downturn in phone services in country regions. Earlier yesterday, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman chastised phone carriers for failing to improve basic services to consumers, including simple telephone connections. The Ombudsman said almost 14,000 complaints were lodged last year about connection and telephone faults. Mr Switkowski said Telstra was committed to improving its service.
Enormous efforts continue to be directed towards improving service delivery to all our customers.
Premier Peter Beattie and state Opposition Leader Rob Borbidge condemned the job losses, saying the regional areas would be hardest hit. But the toughest critics were within the Federal Government itself, where National Party Senate leader Ron Boswell said he feared Telstra's previous poor service in the bush would worsen. Toowoomba-based Liberal Ian Macfarlane said Telstra should maintain jobs in the bush as regional call centres had proved to be more efficient than those in the city. Call centres handle many customer support services, including the 013 information line. Mr Switkowski said Telstra's profit had risen through increased sales, including a surge in the use of mobile telephones and the Internet.