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Telstra gets into vaccination rewards game

As well as bonus points, the telco has changed its network name to Telstra #LetsVaxx.
Written by Chris Duckett, Contributor
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Image: Telstra

Telstra has announced it will be rewarding its customers for getting fully vaccinated, with members of its Plus program to get 2,500 points for doing so.

Customers will also go into a draw for 100 million points, 5 million points, and AU$3,500 in Telstra credit.

"To help ease the burden and boredom of lockdowns, all our Telstra Plus members, regardless of their vaccination status, can soon claim a digital care package that includes a Telstra TV Box Office movie on us, discounts on a food delivery service and access to discounts in the Telstra Plus Rewards store," CEO Andy Penn said.

Penn added Telstra had seen its workforce take up its AU$200-equivalent reward taken up over 5,500 times.

The telco also announced it would be switching its network name to Telstra #LetsVaxx. In March last year the telco changed its network name to Telstra #StayHome.

On Wednesday, Telstra announced that with the completion of the sale of 49% of its InfraCo tower business, the unit has changed its name to Amplitel.

"We chose the new business name as a hybrid of the words 'amplify' and 'Telstra', reflecting our history and the increasing importance of our infrastructure that provides the foundation for wireless connectivity in this country," Telstra InfraCo CEO Brendon Riley said, who will also chair the new entity.

The telco gained AU$2.8 billion from the deal after being approached by a consortium including the Future Fund, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, and Sunsuper.

Late last year, Telstra announced it would be restructuring into fixed, tower, and service entities. The service entity would gain the bulk of Telstra, owning its retail business, active electronics and radio access network, spectrum, as well as offering services and products to customers. However the existing Telstra corporate body and its debt would sit with InfraCo Fixed.

"The proposed restructure is one of the most significant in Telstra's history and the largest corporate change since privatisation. It will unlock value in the company, improve the returns from the company's assets and create further optionality for the future," Penn said at the time.

In March, the company said it would also be creating an arm to hold its international assets.

The company had planned to put its planned restructuring up for a shareholder vote at its AGM in October, but those plans were ditched with the telco saying it was now going to do it at a separate meeting before the end of the year.

In its latest yearly results, revenue for Telstra was down almost 12% to AU$23.1 billion, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation dropped by the same percentage to AU$7.4 billion, and with an income tax reduction of 44% to AU$500 million compared to last year, Telstra was able to walk away from 2021 saying it had increased net profit 3.4% to AU$1.9 billion.

"We stayed disciplined on the execution of our T22 strategy through uncertain times, our hard work is paying off and the turnaround is here," Penn said when handing down the results.

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