About Exetel (28/6/08)
Exetel Pty Ltd began its corporate existence as a technology consulting company in the early 1990s and continued to provide a wide range of technical and management consulting services until December 2003 when it decided to become a service provider of data and telephone communications services.
Exetel established a switching centre in the Sydney CBD and signed a range of resale contracts for services provided by Telstra, Powertel, Optus and Netcomm in January 2004.
Exetel connected its first customer to its ADSL1 services in mid February 2004 and quickly built an ADSL1 customer base throughout NSW due to its low prices and generous download plans which were more attractive than those of the then established providers.
In April 2004 Exetel connected its first SHDSL corporate customer and in June 2004 Exetel began offering Wireless Broadband through an agreement with Unwired – a Sydney based start up that had begun to activate a wireless network across much of Sydney.
Towards the end of 2004 Exetel added wire line telephony services using the Verizon network and mobile services using the Vodafone network. Finally in March 2006 Exetel activated the first customers on its own VoIP switches and thus could offer either a residential or corporate user a full range of data and telephone services all based on the premise of the lowest possible cost available in the Australian market but at a level of reliability equal to the best providers to Australian users.
A key reason that Exetel was able to meet the requirement of offering the lowest possible cost was that all of its promotion, selling, order taking and administration is done on line via its web site. Also much of its customer support was done via FAQ’s, a Forum, and AI data base and an on line chat room all integrated in to its web site.
Over the period mid February 2004 to end December 2007 Exetel has grown to a company providing services to over 70,000 customers but only has a staff of 30 personnel giving it better than world best practice ratios of revenue and profit dollars to number of personnel and number of customers to number of personnel.
This has only been possible because of the web site basis for all of Exetel’s activities. This in turn has required the constant changing and maintenance of the web site with an average of 5 changes a day being done over the past 1,000 days.
Exetel was the first, and remains the only, Australian communications service provider that does its business entirely on line via a web site.
'History' Of Exetel
For news from 2004 please click here
For news from 2005 please click here
For news from 2006 please click here
For news from 2007 please click here
For news from earlier in 2008 please click here
Director’s ‘Blogs’
Aspects Of Managing Exetel - http://johnl.blogs.exetel.com.au/
Engineering At Exetel - http://steve.blogs.exetel.com.au/
May 2008
| May 13th 2008 | Exetel Extends Telephone Support Hours |
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Since it began operations in January 2004, Exetel has provided telephone support from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on weekdays excluding public holidays. From June 1st 2008 Exetel will extend the telephone support hours to 9.30 pm each day.
This additional support will be provided as the first benefit to Exetel’s Australia customers of Exetel’s newly established operations in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Over the next six months, as additional personnel are hired and trained, Exetel Communications Pvt Ltd in Colombo will continue to extend telephone support hours for Exetel’s Australian customers to provide telephone support on Australian public holidays and on week ends.
| May 22nd 2008 | Exetel Completes Australia Wide Network |
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Exetel signed contracts today to complete its network coverage of Australia by installing PoPs in Hobart and Canberra. These two new PoPs will interconnect with Exetel’s PoPs in all other States and the NT providing Exetel with the ability to deliver services using its own leased fibre to all of its Australian users. The new PoPs are particularly important in allowing Exetel to continue to enhance its VoIP services and will also make it possible for Exetel to provide high speed SHDSL and Ethernet services to business and government organisations in those locations.
The new Tasmanian and ACT PoPs are planned to be activated before the end of July 2008.
June 2008
| June 18th 2008 | Exetel Signs Contract To Provide Data Over Mobile Services |
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Exetel has extended its contractual arrangements with Optus to allow the provision of data over mobile services to Exetel customers via the Australia wide Optus mobile GSM network. Exetel has been looking for a viable data over mobile service for almost two years and is now happy that its arrangements with Optus will allow it to provide high speed broadband services to well over 90% of Australia’s population at very affordable prices.
Exetel expects to be able to start providing mobile data services well before the end of 2008 assuming that the current plans for completing the work required to provision, fault fix and supply sims and USB connectors is completed on the currently agreed schedules.
Looking in to the future Exetel expects that approximately 50% of Australian broadband users will use broadband services delivered via HSDPA services within the next three years
| June 26th 2008 | Exetel Breaks All Financial Records |
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With a less than a week to go to the end of the 07/08 Financial year Exetel has exceeded all of its planned targets and broken all previous financial 'records'.
June 2008 is Exetel's 51st consecutive record month since it issued its first invoices in March 2004
June Quarter 2008 is Exetel's 18th successive record quarter
Six Months ending June 30th 2008 is Exetel's 10th successive record half year
June 30th 2008 is Exetel's 5th successive record year
