If At First You Don’t Succeed, … Charles Todd Oration 2024
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Keywords
nbn, National Broadband Network, History of Australian Telecommunications, Charles Todd Oration
Abstract
This is the Charles Todd Oration 2024, delivered by Will Irving on 17 October 2024 in Sydney. It outlines, from a Telstra-internal viewpoint, the various proposed network enhancements that eventually led to Australia’s National Broadband Network. It then draws lessons for the future from this history and the current state of telecommunications in Australia. The question-and-answer session after the Oration is also summarised.
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References
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O’Sullivan, M., Murray, L., & Barker, G. (2007, May 3). Telstra, Coonan at odds over high-speed broadband deal. The Age.
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Copyright Telecommunications Association Inc.
Will Irving, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, nbn Co Ltd
Will began his appointment as NBN Co’s Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer in October 2019 and leads nbn’s Strategic Services Group which encompasses nbn’s key customer and revenue growth engine – its New Developments business along with an array of corporate functions: Security; Data and Analytics; Strategic Partnerships; Corporate Strategy; Privacy, Risk Management & Business Continuity; and Compliance.
In addition to his role at NBN Co, in October 2022 Will became a non-executive Director of Chorus Ltd – New Zealand’s leading fixed line telecommunications infrastructure company.
Prior to joining NBN Co, Will was the Interim CEO of Telstra InfraCo and the Group Executive of Telstra Wholesale from 2016 to 2018. Between 2011 and 2016, he headed Telstra Business, responsible for more than one million Small and Medium Business Telstra customers – from sole traders to smaller ASX listed companies and local government.
Prior to that, between 2005 and 2011, Will was Telstra’s Group General Counsel through the T3 privatisation, the multiple attempts at creating a national broadband network, and Telstra’s $11B deal with NBN Co in 2011. Before becoming Group General Counsel, Will held a variety of legal leadership roles at Telstra between 1997 and 2005, having started his career as a telco lawyer at King & Wood Mallesons in 1994.
