James Hardie selects Telecom NZ and AAPT

11 February 2004

MEDIA RELEASE
James Hardie selects Telecom NZ and AAPT for its
trans-Tasman communications

Leading building materials company James Hardie will gain a significant boost to its business communications following the selection of Telecom New Zealand and AAPT for its trans-Tasman communication services.

As part of the contract - with projected spend of A$7 million - Telecom and AAPT will provide fixed voice, data, and Internet services to James Hardie sites across Australia and New Zealand for a two-year period, with the option for James Hardie to extend the contract for a further three years.

In addition to the upgrade of its services, the contract includes the deployment of a trans-Tasman IP VPN between seven sites in Australia and two sites in New Zealand.

Suzanna Culley, James Hardie Technical Services Manager, said the highly secure and robust Telecom/AAPT network was a major factor in its selection.

“Many of our operations are mission critical,” Ms Culley said. “Telecom and AAPT are able to deliver voice, data and IP services on a robust, business grade network that is highly secure and reliable. We need this level of network quality to continue delivery of our world-class products and services.

“Telecom and AAPT demonstrated a superior understanding of our business issues on both sides of the Tasman. Their approach to meeting our specific needs and providing a whole of business approach to our operations was a stand out. They identified ways to provide us with additional capital cost efficiencies and economies of scale,” she said.

“AAPT has simplified our billing by providing a single monthly invoice for our voice and data needs in Australia and New Zealand. It has also reduced the complexity of the invoice through its Online Bill Analyser offering that helps us better manage our telecommunications spend,” she said.

John Woodyard, Manager of Trade and Production sales for Telecom said: “Telecom and APPT will build on our trans-Tasman expertise to provide James Hardie with innovative IP services and simpler management to help reduce costs and improve business efficiencies.”

ENDS
About James Hardie
James Hardie is a leading international building materials company and a global leader in fibre cement. Established more that 100 years ago and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1951, today the James Hardie group of companies operates in markets around the world, with manufacturing operations in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Chile. The collective businesses employ over 2,500 people who generate revenues of more than A$1.5 billion a year.

ENDS

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