Telstra kicks off BigPond billing trial

A Telstra spokesperson confirmed today that the pilot -- with staff who either had or were looking to set up BigPond accounts -- kicked off on Friday afternoon, in line with a revised schedule but a month to six weeks later than originally scheduled.

He said despite the delay, the telecommunications provider was still on-course for a wider launch "in the April quarter".

BigPond -- Australia's largest Internet service provider -- is planning to consolidate its existing hotch-potch of billing systems to the single platform under a migration process expected to take about a year. Full commissioning of the new platform will allow the carrier to offer a wider range of bill payment options, expedite the process by which users can shift between Internet access technologies and introduce pricing initiatives more quickly.