New Digital Ventures initiative launched by Telecom

8 April 2012

New Digital Ventures initiative launched by Telecom

Telecom announced today the formation of a new Digital Ventures team to focus on high potential growth opportunities in a controlled ‘incubator’ type setting. The initiative is part of Telecom’s reshaping of the business around the realities of fast changing industry and consumer dynamics.

The Telecom Digital Ventures team will be focused on developing and growing new businesses and services to add value to existing offerings, build new revenue streams and generate commercial returns from them.

Simon Moutter, Chief Executive of Telecom, said, “As we have previously announced, Telecom is making a strategic shift to a future oriented, competitive provider of communications, entertainment and IT services over our networks and the Cloud. It won’t be enough for us to become just cost competitive, we also need to identify future revenue generating opportunities that are arising in a rapidly changing world. Telecom Digital Ventures is an important step along the way.”

Telecom Digital Ventures will be headed up by Rod Snodgrass, who has been Chief Product Officer at Telecom for the last two years. Rod’s responsibilities with existing products have been devolved into other parts of the organisation.

Telecom Digital Ventures is structured to be relatively small scale, agile, highly innovative and with a greater propensity for partnering and forming alliances to address new markets and opportunities and build new businesses and services. This will allow potential new businesses and products to be tested and developed with modest levels of investment and risk. In keeping with the incubator-style philosophy, as successful new activities developed in the Digital Ventures team grow and mature they will most likely rejoin Telecom’s core business units or may become businesses in their own right.

Rod Snodgrass said, “In recent years there has been explosive growth in consumer demand for data and information and entertainment services, anywhere, anytime. And these data and mobility mega trends are only going to continue as a digital life becomes a reality. While these trends carry challenges, they also point towards potential and emerging business growth opportunities.

“While we are still in the early stages of developing the Telecom Digital Venture plan of attack it is already clear where we need to focus. These include some product initiatives we have underway, such as Financial Services including our existing NFC and m-Wallet initiatives, Big Data and Advertising, OTT Services including Entertainment and Home Management as examples, e-verticals such as e-health and e-learning and applications development.”

Snodgrass Bio
Rod has a strong background in internet, broadband and mobility, including with Ericsson Cellular, as well as running Xtra and the Fixed Line division in Telecom and a stint as Telecoms Group Strategy Director. Most recently he was Chief Product Officer. Rod brings broad industry knowledge and expertise from being on the Mobile World Capital Advisory Board, Telco Futures Forum and Southern Cross Cables Board and previously on the Boards of the Icehouse, TMT Ventures, 3 Australia and Yahoo!Xtra amongst others.

ENDS

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