http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/aap/8638971/were-diffe...

http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbusiness/aap/8638971/were-different-now-says-vodafone-boss
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... Reported by AAPTuesday, April 9, 2013
... Vodafone Australia chief executive Bill Morrow is building a leaner, more focused carrier in a bid to make his network Australia's most trusted mobile service by the end of this year.

Mr Morrow said the carrier was pursuing a strategy to lift its reputation in a narrower target market.

"We can't be all things to all people - we're not going to make the capital investment that one of our other competitors has, to get that wider coverage of a network," Mr Morrow said in a briefing with reporters.

"We're not going to try to market to those customers that live in or need that coverage area that we don't support."

Vodafone is trying to rebuild its image and customer base, spending a reported $2 billion in Australia on network improvements and customer service to "earn back the hearts and minds of the Australian people".

"Let's just be straight up with people - what happened, happened," Mr Morrow said.

"2013 is all about trying to earn back trust.

"We did let our customers down historically - that's different now."

Vodafone Australia is a joint venture between UK-based Vodafone and Hutchison Telecommunications Australia - a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa.

Mr Morrow said the two stakeholder companies had agreed to spend money on Australia because the plan had a reasonable rate of return.

"We expect to get into a customer growth position by the end of this year," he said.

Vodafone has announced it will switch on its 4G network from June, has added 2,000 mobile phone towers to improve coverage and introduced a "network guarantee" opt-out for unhappy customers as part of a push to heal its damaged brand.

The third-ranked telco has lost about 1.3 million customers since 2010 because of chronic network and service problems.

Mr Morrow's presentation outlined a journey for Vodafone from "low trust" in 2011 to "most trusted" by the end of the year.

Vodafone will start offering its high-speed 4G, or fourth-generation, network to customers in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide from June, with regional centres to follow.

Mr Morrow said the company has also worked on improving its 3G coverage and will have 6,000 mobile towers in its network by the end of the year, up from 3,600 three years ago.

The carrier's new strategy will also emphasise coverage in built-up areas and regional areas rather than remote parts of the country.

Mr Morrow has directed that staff not sign up customers if the company could not offer adequate network coverage in their area.

Vodafone has slashed its costs, including sacking 45 per cent of local staff to reduce numbers to about 3,000 people - a move Mr Morrow said had created a more focused workforce.

The mobile carrier is offering a "network guarantee" to new customers, allowing them to cancel contracts within the first 30 days if they are unhappy with network coverage.

The guarantee is not available to existing customers.

Vodafone has also set up a call centre in Hobart, seeking to improve service and public perception by shunning overseas call centres.