Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications provider, has awarded Accenture five-year, multi-million-dollar IT outsourcing contract to maintain its customer care and billing platform, which Accenture helped design and deploy.

Under terms of the contract, Accenture will be responsible for the ongoing management of the platform and ensuring that it operates effectively through further migrations and software releases.

Steve Willis, managing director of Accenture’s Communications & High Tech practice in Australia, said, “Telstra has a relentless focus on customer service and required care, and its new billing platform will provide the company with a competitive advantage now and in the future. This agreement is the opportunity for us to continue our work as a key transformation partner with Telstra, helping introduce new products, training techniques and advanced technologies.”

Accenture led the development and implementation of the customer care and billing platform as part of Telstra’s business transformation program. Telstra has migrated more than 5 million consumer customers and 8.5 million services to a new platform, processing hundreds of thousands of orders and millions of bills, with no increase in complaint volumes.