To mitigate the impact of the bushfires, Telstra reports it has provided disaster assistance packages to more than 34,000 customers, and took care of the mobile bills for more than 8,200 volunteers, while its payphone and Telstra Air Wi-Fi hotspots have been used by nearly 800,000 people across the country.
Telstra also reports it has 2.4 million services on its new, simplified plans. The operator has delivered more than 1.7 million Smart Modems to homes around the country and more than 1.2 million customers are now Telstra Plus members.
In the half year ended 31 December 2019, Telstra added 137,000 retail postpaid mobile services, including 91,000 from Belong, 135,000 retail prepaid mobile services, and 173,000 pre and postpaid and IoT Wholesale services.
The company’s 5G network now covers selected areas in 32 cities and regional areas, and the operator is on track to reach 35 cities by the end of FY20. One quarter of all Telstra’s Android phone sales since July 2019 have been 5G devices. In total, the company says it sold more than 100,000 5G-enabled mobile devices.
The Telstra Board decided to pay a fully-franked interim dividend of 8 cents per share, comprising an interim ordinary dividend of 5 cents per share and an interim special dividend of 3 cents per share.
Telstra reconfirmed guidance for the year ended 30 June 2020, with total income in the range of AUD 25.3 to AUD 27.3 billion, underlying EBITDA in the range of AUD 7.4 to AUD 7.9 billion, restructuring costs of around AUD 300 million, capital expenditure of AUD 2.9 to AUD 3.3 billion, and free cash flow after operating lease payments of AUD 3.3 to AUD 3.8 billion.
