Telstra scores $150m Coke deal

Telstra has sealed a 10-year telecommunications and managed computing deal with Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA).

Telstra CEO, David Thodey and CCA MD, Terry Davis (Credit: Telstra)

The deal was signed after the completion of a five-year telecommunications contract, and is claimed by Telstra to be its biggest enterprise and government sector deal to date.

The contract's value has not been disclosed, but it is understood to be worth around $150 million. Despite being lower in value than the $1 billion telco deal with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), it's being claimed as the largest by Telstra due to its exclusive supply arrangement; other vendors may bid for work under the CBA deal.

The contract covers CCA's 130 sites in Australia. Telstra has also been signed as the preferred telco for CCA's international operations, according to a statement.

CCA's telephony will be carried on Telstra's Next IP network and the telco will also provide a range of mobile services, including wireless broadband and BlackBerry devices. Telstra will also supply managed computing services and resources for CCA to handle operations and billing.

CCA is also partway through a SAP supply chain system revamp, reported to be worth $65 million, being carried out under the project name OAisys. CCA group managing director Terry Davis said the Telstra deal would form part of the beverage maker and distributor's "supply chain of the future" goal.

"As part of the contract, Telstra and CCA have already commenced an initial trial involving 17 field technicians using laptops and vehicles equipped with Trimble vehicle tracking, which is seeing some impressive productivity improvements. We're looking forward to testing more innovations like this in the months and years ahead," Davis said.

Earlier this year, CCA's chief information officer Barry Simpson told ZDNet.com.au that its SAP supply chain program was facing an "aggressive" timeline with the plan to have 30 of its locations equipped with the new system by the end of the year.

Telstra chief David Thodey, who had led negotiations under the CBA deal, also had a hand in negotiating the CCA contract. "Telstra and CCA are both focused on changing the way people and organisations work," he said.

"Central to our relationship is the shared vision to improve productivity at both the employee and enterprise level. Through Telstra's integral role in providing a whole of business ICT infrastructure, we expect CCA will benefit from cost savings, sustainability improvements and increased productivity," he added.