"We will transition that process over time because we want to make sure we are transitioning the customers into the business technology centres or store environment as smoothly as possible," he said. "It will be over the next 18 to 24 months by the time we are fully ramped down." Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Ackland said he could not put a figure on how much money Telstra would save through the move but that he expected "efficiencies" of around 25 per cent. He was unable to provide details on the impact on jobs. "From a Telstra perspective there are not job losses and from our partner perspective that will be a decision for them," he said.

Small business customers will be catered for through Telstra's existing network retail stores, which now have over 3000 small business "specialists" and through Telstra's Business Technology Centres, the first of which opened in Townsville on Monday. Mr Ackland said the needs of small businesses had grown to include much more than just phone products and a website, and the Telstra Business Technology Centres address this need. "Now it’s about cloud storage and software services, IP phone and data networks and hardware," he said. "This is for those small businesses that have more complex needs." Telstra's new Business Technology Centre in Townsville. 28 will be rolled out around Australia. Mr Ackland said Telstra estimated that out of its 1 million small business customers there were 150,000 that had "really complex" needs which will suit the Telstra Business Technology Centres.

"I think the trigger points for many customers when their needs become more complex is when working across multiple sites or when security needs are more significant or the range of business applications they need are broader," he said. "It is not only size, you can have quite large small businesses with simple needs or small businesses with complex needs." Telstra chief executive Andy Penn (left) and Michael Ackland (right) at Telstra's 5G announcement in Sydney in December. Credit:Ryan Stuart The Townsville centre will be run by Vita Group which operates many of Telstra's existing business centres, however, Mr Ackland said Telstra was working with a range of partners on the Telstra Business Technology Centres. Maxine Horne, the chief executive of Vita Group, said it would operate five of the Telstra Business Technology Centres. "As previously announced, Vita Group supports Telstra’s strategy for its new small to medium business model and has worked closely with Telstra to shape the channel," she said. "In preparation for this rollout, we have consolidated our Telstra Business Centre network and expanded the capability of our 104 Telstra retail stores to service smaller business customers."