A true customer-centric approach
As Australia’s largest independent owner and operator of shared wireless infrastructure, Axicom has undergone a strategy and cultural transformation over the past few years to place the customer at the heart of everything they do. Seeking to be a truly customer-centric organisation, Axicom’s ongoing focus on understanding their customers’ critical issues, anticipating their changing needs and creating innovative infrastructure solutions has helped them deliver long-term customer value.
“The principle I seek to instil in my team, and all our employees, is that creating value for our customers should be the first and predominant focus. Understand your customer and step into their shoes – look from the outside in – is imperative in any market but critically important in the telecoms sector where the requirements of the customer are changing and evolving so rapidly” explains Michael Riches, CEO of Axicom.
Underpinning their drive to provide customer value, is Axicom’s dedication to world-class delivery. As a long-term player in the market, their depth of IP and knowledge as well as their ‘tried and tested’ processes enable them to deliver fast and responsive service to their customers. Ongoing investment in digital has furthered their ability to provide speed in delivery and make it easier and more transparent for their customers to do business with them.
“We have a strong focus on digital transformation and automating a lot of our processes which allows us to work with our customers in a collaborative and co-ordinated way and deploy faster and more effectively across our sites.” Riches explains. “Creating meaningful customer experiences, not just good service, continues to drive the way we operate”.
It is Axicom’s customer-centric approach that has seen them develop true partnerships with their customers including TPG Telecom. Due to Huawei’s exclusion from Australia’s 5G rollout, TPG Telecom had to start its 5G journey more or less from scratch. “Without Huawei's equipment to build on, we had to start our 5G buildout from square one,” explains Yago Lopez, GM of Wireless & Transmission Networks at TPG Telecom.
Axicom worked in a highly collaborative and consultative way with TPG Telecom to understand their future network needs and key business objectives and provide solutions that deliver long-term value. By working closely together, abandoning the traditional dynamic of supplier and vendor, the teams were able to speed up TPG Telecom’s 5G deployment process, eliminate procurement delays, and create a better alignment of outcomes oriented towards the overall enhancement of the network.
“Rather than a traditional supplier-vendor relationship, there's been much more of a 'let's do this together' approach. With TPG Telecom, it is - and will continue to be - all about how we can work more closely with them to understand their needs, deliver the necessary infrastructure support, and continue to develop the true partnership between our organisations. TPG Telecom's 5G deployment has gone ahead at a speed that has not been seen in this market and as a key partner, we’re proud to be part of that success” says Riches.
The relationship between Axicom and TPG Telecom then, should undeniably be viewed as a preview of things to come. “The TPG-Vodafone merger has created a substantial organisation with substantial capital backing that's looking to do things differently. And where we fit in as partners is we're able to work with and support them on that journey,” says Riches. “We understand what they're going through because Axicom too has gone through a really fundamental shift in the way that we do business. We're not just a passive infrastructure supplier; our role now is as a partner and to collaborate with our customers to create innovative solutions to help them achieve their goals”
And there’s every sign that TPG Telecom and Axicom will continue to move forward together as true partners, with the recent extension of the lease term of existing network sites for an initial period of 19 years.
