Optus Wholesale on 30 years of YES

In 1992, Optus was the first company to bring Australians choice in telecommunications. From the beginning, we’ve described ourselves as Australia’s challenger brand.

In the technology market, competition drives innovation, and competitors are constantly looking for new ideas to gain an edge on their rivals. From the very early days, Optus saw an opportunity to change the status quo in the telco market, and to open up access to our network to other organisations.

In the mid 90s, Optus Wholesale was born and has since remained a core pillar of the breadth of choice Optus is known for. We realised the importance of partnering with other brands to help address a wide range of market segments and meet demand from Australians.

As Optus celebrates 30 years of YES, we caught up with two veterans of Optus Wholesale. They share their insights into what makes the Optus Wholesale offering so unique in the market, and consequently so loved by our customers.

A challenger spirit, built around trust

Tony Barrett, Senior Sales Director, has been with Optus Wholesale from its very early days. He sold his own business and made the leap to Optus, excited by the prospect of joining a challenger brand and a team that were seeing massive potential in opening its doors to the Australian telco market.

“When I joined, Optus was still a start-up in many regards, and we had a team of very young people, passionate about technology and wanting to challenge the status quo in what, at the time, was a market dominated by one single provider.”

“There was a real enthusiasm to do things differently, push the boundaries of how telco services and products were offered, and a vision to open up the telco market way beyond what the market at the time thought was possible – in effect, opening up our network to other brands.”

“This challenger spirit and commitment to doing things differently are still very much core to Optus today. This is still how Optus Wholesale approaches every new challenge as our customers’ needs change and as technology evolves”.

Malcolm Adams, Senior Director, Mobile and Customer Marketing, has been with Optus Wholesale from its early stages too: “The truest testament to Optus Wholesale’s commitment to the market is the trust that our customers put in us. Without them we would not exist and this is why we are investing in them and their success, as much as they are investing in us.

“Our ability to not only be trusted by new brands, some of them far from the telco world, but also to renew long-term contracts, speaks volumes. Many of our current customers have been with us for 10 or 15 years, and that’s because we are consistently delivering on our promises and have become a true partner to their long-term growth.”

“At the end of the day, what we are investing in are not simple commercial deals, but long-term relationships where our partners feel supported. We’re very proud to play a role in other businesses’ growth and be trusted by such a wide variety of brands.”

Driving the future of the Australian digital economy

Today, Optus Wholesale partners with more than 200 organisations of varying sizes from players in the telecommunications sector to more diverse players in Retail, Energy, Media and more – and all have differing needs.

For Tony, what has - and continues to - set Optus Wholesale apart is our ability to provide customers with the flexibility to do what they want to do, how they want to do it.

“Our consistent ability to adapt our offering and solutions to meet a variety of needs and empower brands to do something different to stay competitive, supported by our challenger spirit, is what draws customers to join - and stay - with us.”

For Malcolm, Optus Wholesale has also consistently enabled and supported businesses in shaping the future of Australia’s digital economy, as well as creating new growth opportunities.

“We understand the importance of supporting our customers as they look to build and participate in Australia's growing digital economy. Scale has become critical to doing business and will only continue to be businesses’ greatest challenge to stay competitive and innovative in the digital age.”

“This is why we are committed to continue investing in and building our domestic and international network for fixed and mobile services, allowing our customers to buy the capacity they need as they grow, diversify, and build the foundations for the future of the digital economy.”

Optus is continuously upgrading its 4G network and is advancing in the rollout of its 5G network.

“We know that this investment, and the many other investments we are making, will play a critical role in helping the nation achieve its vision of becoming a world leading digital economy”, concludes Tony.

Unwavering commitment to the sector and partnership

Optus Wholesale’s aim for the next 30 years is to continue supporting our partners, and in turn, their customers, as we have done in the past.

“I have been with Optus for a large part of 30 years, and the journey we have taken alongside our customers has been incredible”, said Malcolm.

“Every year we encounter new challenges, and new opportunities. Our ability to build relationships, trust, and common goals through partnership - an ability that we believe is unique to Optus - is what keeps me excited, even after three decades”. 

Tony added: “Technology is constantly changing, evolving, this is why it never gets boring! Watching how our economy has digitised in the past thirty years, and how this has opened new doors both for us at Optus and for our partners has been truly inspiring and I cannot wait to see what the future holds with technologies like 5G, and more.”

In closing, Malcolm emphasised the importance of the Optus culture and workplace values, which are intrinsic to what makes Optus a partner of choice.  

“At the end of the day, it’s our amazing people that really sets us apart. We will continue to support our employees and will keep working hard at providing a workplace that promotes values of diversity, inclusion and empowerment. This leads to employee happiness and in turn to our success as a business”.