Optus says network needs improvement Australian telco Optus has lifted its quarterly net profit by almost eight per cent. OPTUS admits it needs to improve the quality of its network after seeing rival Telstra scoop up most of the 550,000 customers who this year abandoned struggling telco Vodafone. The telco has watched its customer numbers virtually stagnate over the past 12 months while Telstra added 1.3 million new subscribers to its books. Optus boss Kevin Russell admits network quality was the primary factor that drove the disaffected Vodafone customers into the arms of its rival. "The experiences customers had at the Vodafone network were very difficult and that unquestionably sensitised a lot of Vodafone customers to network quality," he said. Unquestionably, Telstra has positioned itself very much as the leader in network, I think where the market has been is Optus has lead on customer, Vodafone has lead on price and Telstra has lead on network and it was uniquely positioned to capitalise on that. Mr Russell says Optus is working to improve its network and restructure its business to better suit the needs of customers. I think we have to be very clear in terms of the things we have to do, which is strengthening our network to levels that are comparative with Telstra and to start to get a clearer brand position in the market place in terms of doing the right thing by customers. He said the company is working to strengthen its 3G network and extend its 4G network to reach more than 70 per cent of Australia's metro population by 2014. The telco recorded a net profit of $167 million for the three months to June 30, up nearly eight per cent compared to the same time last year. That was despite a five per cent fall in quarterly revenue compared to a year ago, mostly from its mobile phone business. But the drop in revenue was more than offset by savings from a cost-cutting drive. Mr Russell said mobile revenue would continue to contract over the coming months and would remain weak for the next two years. But he said the company was positioning itself to lift its earnings through the growing demand for data services.