Telstra was named Australia’s ‘Best Telecommunications Company of the Year’ for the second year running at the 8th Annual Media, Entertainment and Telecom Awards in Sydney last night.

Telstra also received six other prestigious awards including recognition of the leadership provided by the CEO with Sol Trujillo’s entry to the ‘Hall of Fame’.

After being nominated in eight out of 16 categories, Telstra also received ‘Chief Executive Officer of the Year’ for the second year running,
‘Best International Carrier’ for Telstra International, ‘Best Regional Service Provider’ for Telstra Country Wide.

In two special editor’s choice awards, Greg Winn received the ‘Best Chief Operations Officer’ award and Dr Phil Burgess received the ‘Best Corporate Communications Officer’ award.

Sol Trujillo accepted three awards in total on the night and paid tribute to the efforts of all of Telstra’s employees.

“The Telstra team has been nothing short of extraordinary as we have moved to change the game and bringing a new customer experience. I accept this on behalf of all the people at Telstra who have done a terrific job and who are working to transform Telstra.

“Telstra’s 40,000 plus people have raised the bar in bringing new innovation to the market place. Thank you for this award on their behalf,” Sol said.

On accepting the Editor’s Choice award for ‘Best Chief Operations Officer’, Greg Winn paid tribute to the entire Telstra team.

“I accept this award on behalf of all the men and women across Telstra. They deserve the award and the recognition,” Greg said.

Dr Phil Burgess, GMD Public Policy & Communications, received the Editor’s Choice award for ‘Best Corporate Communications Officer’ in the telecommunications industry.

Phil said, “There is no greater privilege than living in another country, and that privilege is amplified ten-fold when you work for one of the most iconic companies in the country. It is a privilege that I will always remember and cherish.”

Geoff Booth, GMD Telstra Country Wide, took much pleasure accepting the award for best regional service provider.

“We have people from Broome to Hobart, and from Cairns to the far corners of Western Australia. Our people are our greatest asset and I am happy to say that we love doing our job,” Geoff said.

“We have the opportunity in our job to provide not only the best product in Australia but in the world. I’d also like to thank the remarkable work of our Telstra Services team – without them the work of Telstra Country Wide could not be done,” he said.

For the first time, Telstra International received the ‘Best International Carrier’ award. Accepting the award, Drew Kelton, Executive Director of Telstra International said that he was pleased to accept the award on behalf of Telstra International.

“Like Telstra, Telstra International is going through a transformation. It is about extending the ground-breaking work that has been done in Australia and taking it to the rest of the world. On behalf of Telstra International, thank you,” Drew said.