Telstra CEO forecasts mobile Internet ‘revolution’

Telstra CEO David Thodey has declared the expansion of mobile Internet will drive Telstra’s business well into the future.

Thodey addressed the Trans-Tasman Business Circle in Sydney this week, saying mobile technology will be vital to the future of Telstra’s business.

“Within three to four years I forecast that virtually every person over the age of 10 will have access to mobile Internet with one or more devices and this will become a critically important way for people to access the Internet,” he said.

He went on to say the majority of Telstra’s traffic is video content and, accordingly, Telstra is finding new ways of making access to this content easier.

“By 2012, Internet video will nearly be 700 times more than the US Internet backbone of 2000.”

“80 per cent of our traffic today is video… Telstra is moving into a 4G environment over time,” Thodey said.

With NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley amongst the 450 guests at the event, Thodey was reluctant to speculate on how the NBN may impact the future of Telstra, but was clear to point out that his address was in no way hinting at his opinions of the current negotiations.

“The fact that I’m focusing on the potential of the mobile Internet should not be seen as a veiled commentary on the National Broadband Network. For Telstra, the NBN negotiation is purely commercial and our fiduciary duty to our shareholders is paramount.”

He did, however, go on to say that in order for greater access to mobile broadband services, a faster broadband network must be developed.

“We do need a very fast broadband network to make this happen,” Thodey said.