From the desk of the CEO

In August this year we celebrated 10 years since we were granted our telecommunications license, and what a decade it has been! Uecomm was actually the 11th carrier to be granted a license when the telecommunications market was deregulated in 1997, and the business has certainly seen some changes over the past 10 years.

Amongst the many things we have achieved as a business, we are proud of our “firsts”. The first carrier to bring Ethernet to the Wide Area Network for businesses, the first carrier to offer WDM services and more recently, the first Australian service provider to join the Metro Ethernet Forum. Our membership of the forum was driven by what we believe will be the future needs of our customers; the need to work with a company that delivers network services to an international and accredited standard. We are looking forward to working with the Metro Ethernet Forum to raise awareness of their value and service in Australia.

In our customer profile, we showcase an example of a key Uecomm value – customer focus. It’s great that Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is sharing their story with us, and really pleasing to see one of our values in action!

Dean Tognella
CEO, Uecomm

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Uecomm becomes the first Australian member
of the Metro Ethernet Forum

The Metro Ethernet Forum is a non-profit, pre-eminent industry organisation dedicated to accelerating the worldwide adoption of Carrier Ethernet networks and services through combined technical and marketing forums.

It consists of a group of more than 120 leading service providers, major incumbent local exchange carriers, top network equipment vendors, test equipment vendors and other prominent networking companies driving the definition of a truly carrier-class Ethernet.

Founded in 2001, by Nan Chen, President and Ron Young (Chairman 2001- 2003) with 16 initial member companies, the MEF was formed to develop and enhance worldwide awareness of the benefits of Ethernet services, enabled applications and Ethernet based networks.

Uecomm is the first Australian carrier to join the MEF, confirming its commitment to the delivery of high-speed business broadband in Australia.

Dean Tognella, Uecomm’s CEO says joining the MEF is an exciting step in Uecomm’s development and it aligns closely with the company’s aggressive growth strategy.

“As the first carrier to provide Ethernet WAN services to business customers in Australia, Uecomm has led the way in the development of the Carrier Ethernet market. Being part of the MEF industry alliance demonstrates our commitment to taking a leading role in educating Australian businesses and the broader market on the business benefits of Ethernet.

“By joining forces with the MEF, we’re taking the next step in raising awareness of the benefits of Ethernet services such as scalability, simplicity and transparency,” said Mr Tognella.

MEF president Nan Chen said Uecomm’s membership is a valuable addition to the 125 plus organisations around the globe already part of the MEF.

“Carrier Ethernet services are seeing explosive growth across Asia, Europe and North America with analysts predicting world-wide compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37%.

“Uecomm was an early adopter of Carrier Ethernet and is committed to the promotion of global MEF specifications for Carrier Ethernet services to the Australian market. They will be ideal partners for us to launch in Australia,” concluded Mr Chen.

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Customer Profile

Flexible and reliable communications ensure efficiencies for VECCI

Background
The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is an independent, non-government body that services a diverse membership base of businesses at a state and national level. VECCI acts as a sounding board for government decision-making and an instrument for active lobbying.

VECCI needed to replace its ADSL network with a business-grade solution that would support VoIP and video telephony, and increase network performance.

Problem
Performance issues and lack of bandwidth on an existing ADSL network encouraged VECCI to look for a business-grade network to provide all of its 16 offices with access to centralised servers.

Solution
Uecomm installed a simple Ethernet VLAN service with a 20Mbps pipe to the WAN at VECCI’s head office. An additional 20Mbps Internet VLAN provides VECCI with high-speed Internet access without having to invest in further infrastructure. Smaller fibre Ethernet ports link 16 branch offices to the WAN, with varying bandwidth at each port in accordance to office needs - the smallest link is 128/156kbps for a one-person office, up to a 2/2Mbps for larger offices.

Uecomm also provides a customer portal that allows VECCI to monitor the amount of traffic going down any link. The ability to monitor ‘jitter’ on the network means VECCI can adjust bandwidth according to the amount of data branch offices are pushing through the network, providing greater flexibility.

Results
Daniel Howarth, IT Manager at VECCI said the Uecomm network has provided faster links that contribute to efficiencies, and the bandwidth to run a larger range of applications.

“Our previous ADSL network was limited in capacity, but the Uecomm network has allowed us to introduce VoIP and video telephony within our five largest offices.

“With Uecomm, we get Committed Bit Rates, so we know we’re getting the amount of bandwidth we’ve signed on for. These sorts of guarantees, along with traffic monitoring capabilities, simplicity of implementation and professional service from account management ensured that Uecomm came out on top in a competitive vendor selection process.”

VECCI has also been impressed with the customer service they’ve received from Uecomm’s Network Operations Centre (NOC).

"Uecomm's NOC has been excellent compared to other experiences we've had. They offer a pro-active level of support,” said Daniel.

“For example, driving home from work one Friday night, I got a phone call from the NOC to let me know that the Ballarat office had lost connectivity. The engineer told me he'd checked with the Bureau of Meteorology and found that a storm was passing through, so the power probably was down.

“They asked if anyone was working on the weekend, which there wasn't, but the NOC followed me up again on Monday morning. By that time I had forgotten about it, but they rang to say that everything was working again and that it must have been a power outage.

“Previously if something like that had happened with another service provider, we would have been chasing up support staff to get the problem solved." 

Uecomm’s Director of Strategy, Brendan Park says moving to fibre Ethernet positions VECCI as an innovative and forward-thinking organisation.

“Telecommunications is an important part of any multi-site organisation, and by moving to an Ethernet network, VECCI has introduced a more scalable and flexible infrastructure offering long-term performance and cost benefits,” said Mr Park.

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Insight: Uecomm

Uecomm turns 10!

On 27 August 2007, Uecomm celebrated 10 years as an Australian telecommunications carrier. This milestone is a real opportunity to celebrate our success, and reflect on the challenges ahead as we develop our business.

From our beginnings as a subsidiary of Melbourne energy utility, United Energy, to our listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1999, Uecomm has always embraced development and opportunity.

Now as a fully owned subsidiary of Optus, we are committed to revolutionising how Australia’s businesses communicate.

With our focus on quality, flexibility, speed and reliability in fibre based telecommunications; we have built one of the largest CBD and metropolitan data networks in Australia, covering Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to the Gold Coast.

As we grow, Uecomm’s strategic emphasis is on customer relationships and continuing to deliver service excellence. This year, we have embarked on a major strategy to strengthen our reputation as the leading provider of converged data services for business.

Part of this strategy is a focus on our people and our business’ cultural transformation. The Uecomm team is critically important to delivering on our company goals. By embedding a high performance culture that supports our staff both professionally and personally, we are better equipped to drive innovation and success.

We have the size, capability and technological mix to build competitive advantage in the dynamic Internet and data markets.

Our intimate knowledge of data technology together with our reputation for customer service excellence will see us continue to focus on the business needs and strategic objectives of our customers in the years ahead.

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