Telstra leaders landed in Armidale, less than 24 hours after news the telco giant would cull 1400 jobs.
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But the Northern NSW General Manager, Michael Marom, told The Express Thursday’s visit was about strengthening regional ties.
“It’s about interacting with key community leaders, university educators and also our customers to really understand what we can do to assist,” Mr Marom said.
Armidale Regional Council’s organisational services leader Lindsay Woodland said Council will present to the board during a meeting at NERAM this afternoon.
“It’s about really communicating the strengths we have here in Armidale and communicating the amazing things that are going on in the region,” Mr Woodland said.
“We want to make sure that we take the opportunity while the Telstra Board is in town to let them know we are a very dynamic part of Australia and we want to work with them and ideally attract their attention.”
The smarter communities strategy is a concept designed to combine technology-based tools to improve the liveability, productivity and sustainability of our city.
Council may also apply for a smart cities grant through the federal government.
“We’re looking at environment-friendly smart lighting [and] things like interactive wayfinding and signage,” he said.
Applications close on June 30. As for Wednesday’s announcement, Mr Marom said metro sites would cop the brunt of the cuts.
“[In the New England] the job cuts, if any, will be minimal and likely to be less than a handful,” he said.
“We’ve got a very clear commitment to regional markets and that’s why we have network teams on the ground and service delivery crews to assist our regional and remote customers.”
A commitment which hopes to facilitate a “smarter” future.
“Our job is to provide the enabling technologies through, not only connections with the mobile network and the NBN, but with the apps and programs we can offer,” he said.