IT & TELECOMMUNICATIONS
• Effectively manage the transition from traditional telephony services
with minimal disruption to end users;
Rene Sugo,
Co-founder & CEO of MyNetFone Group
• Service smaller sites currently not addressed by the incumbent
voice provider;
Rene is the co-founder and Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of the MyNetFone Group
(ASX:MNF), which owns and operates
Australian’s largest VoIP network. Rene is
responsible for driving the company’s growth
in ASX value and market-share in key markets
such as enterprise, government, SMB and
residential as well as wholesale.
• Reduce operational expenditure;
• Enable the Government to manage the complex transition to next
generation technologies as easily and efficiently as possible; and,
• Manage technology risk at a time when next generation technologies
are still being proven in the wider market.
By working with MyNetFone, the Tasmanian Government was able to
migrate existing fixed line services and reduce costs, not only in the
services delivered but ongoing costs inherent in typical adds, moves and
change of service. Furthermore, the platform also allows for seamless
migration to new technology as it evolves or is deployed, such as migration
to the National Broadband Network (NBN) as the underlying transport
layer for voice delivery.
As a result of deploying in the cloud, the Tasmanian Government has
reaped substantial positive returns through:
• Provision of free on-network traffic across all of Tasmanian Government
– i.e. free calls between any phones on the Tasmanian Government voice
network, covering up to 30,000 users;
• Provision of untimed national fixed call costs;
• High-density channel aggregation for voice services – the ability to run
hundreds of voice channels over a single Ethernet cable; and,
• Ability to deliver or port numbers without being location specific.
Taking the virtual leap
For most government agencies, communications is more often than
not considered one of the few processes that reaches across the entire
operation. As such, transitioning to VoIP can essentially serve to enable
agencies to meet new and emerging challenges associated with expanding
mandates, rising expectations and evolving demands from constituents.
At the helm of the MyNetFone Group,
Rene is leading the IP communications
revolution. Rene is a passionate advocate
for new-generation technology and leads
MyNetFone’s consultative contribution to
the industry regulators’ legislation reviews
and changes to support the evolution of
telecommunications in Australia.
Prior to making the leap as an entrepreneur,
Rene started his career at the CSIRO Australia’s premier research and development
organisation, and then honed his skills in the
communications industry working for Lucent
Technologies Bell Labs in Australia, the USA
and Asia.
Rene holds a Bachelor’s degree in
Electronics Engineering from the University
of Technology, Sydney. Rene’s achievements
include the Award for outstanding excellence
in a bachelor’s degree by the Institute of
Electrical Engineers, London (IEEE); and the
award for best thesis in electrical engineering
by the Institute of Instrumentation and
Control, Australia.
Indeed, many government leaders are increasingly seeing technology
as a means to drive efficiencies, boost revenue and enhance service
levels. Communications technology such as cloud telephony services can
fundamentally deliver greater flexibility, increased reliability and new
functionality to government agency workers – thereby allowing agencies to
cater better to the needs of the communities they serve.
Govlink I Issue 1 2014
57