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Telstra to provide managed services to the ABC

Telstra has scored a major five-year deal with the Australian Broadcast Corporation to manage the companies voice, mobile, and data services.
Written by Josh Taylor, Contributor

Telstra has scored a five-year deal with the taxpayer-funded Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) to manage the company's voice, mobile, and data services and provide a new digital video network platform.

The Digital Video Network will allow ABC newsrooms stationed around the world to send and receive radio, TV, and other digital content in high quality formats.

Telstra will also provide managed data networks, mobile data and voice, and fixed voice services to the ABC. This will be managed by Telstra's Managed Network Operations Centre on a 24-7 basis.

Paul Geason, Telstra's group managing director of enterprise and government, said that Telstra's five-year deal with the ABC was a partnership for the delivery of news content across the country.

"Our partnership with the ABC means that they can continue to realise the benefits from the latest IT services and technology, and ensure the ABC can continue to provide a high quality broadcasting service for all Australians," Geason said.

The value of the deal was not revealed by Telstra in its announcement today.

The ABC has been looking to make more efficient use of IT, particularly since it began operating a 24-hour news channel, ABC News 24, which plays on digital TV, streams online and also through the ABC's mobile and tablet apps. Much of the funding for these new services came from existing resources; the ABC said that, over the years, it was expected to save AU$20 million that could be used to fund the new services.

In the last financial report, for example, the ABC said that it had virtualised over 300 systems in the corporation, significantly cutting down capital and energy costs.

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