Telstra Limited has signed a £1.5m deal with one of the UK's largest independent financial advisory companies, Millfield Partnership, to provide a scalable, advanced, Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based managed services platform linking the company's 40 regional offices in the UK.  The solution is being deployed by a key Telstra channel partner, Pink Telecommunications plc, a leading reseller of voice and data network solutions.

Under the agreement, Millfield Partnership will outsource the management of its network, together with its mission-critical customer databases which are accessed by over 1,600 of the company's financial advisers on a daily basis, its IT operations and its online services operations. Telstra's managed services approach will deliver improved business efficiencies for Millfield Partnership and the freedom to focus more closely on core business operations and customer service levels.

The collaboration between Telstra and Pink will deliver a truly converged Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solution between Millfield Partnership's 40 regional offices, delivering significant cost-efficiencies in its communications throughout the business. Telstra will replace three incumbent suppliers of voice and data services including BT, Tiscali and AlwaysOn over a three year period.

The reasons for adopting Telstra’s services included its robust Disaster Recovery facility at its London Hosting Centre in the Docklands, its proven track record of delivery-converged e-business solutions and keen understanding of the voice and data requirements that enterprises face today.

Mike Duncan, Group Operations Directorat Millfield Partnership commented, "The financial services industry is becoming increasingly regulated and it is vital that our mission-critical data is securely managed in line with regulatory compliance. Legally, we have to ensure we have stringent Disaster Recovery measures in place to ensure the protection of our customers’ information. Pink, who has maintained our voice network over the last three years, recommended Telstra on the strength of its reputation as a managed service provider for e-business and its financial stability; this prompted our decision to partner with them.  Telstra’s London Hosting Centre will now host the heart of our operations - our customer database, IT operations and online services operation."

"This move will not only greatly enhance our business operations and deliver efficiencies throughout Millfield Partnership, it will also ensures that we can be confident that we are always in line with FSA regulatory requirements and that our customer data security is fail-safe. By selecting Telstra, we have one supplier, instead of three: greatly reducing the complexity of our business, alleviating the management headaches involved in dealing with multiple suppliers and making significant time and resource savings."

David Thorn, CEO of Telstra Limited, commented, "UK financial institutions are under immense regulatory pressure and the protection and security of their customer information is critical. We are delighted we can alleviate some of Millfield Partnership's data management and regulatory challenges and provide the company with peace of mind and confidence that its business operations are in very safe hands."

Peter Southgate, managing director of Pink Telecommunications plc, commented, “We are delighted to work closely with Telstra to help deliver such a collaborative solution for Millfield Partnership. This agreement demonstrates our mutual commitment to working in partnership to provide companies with robust, scalable, high quality telco solutions to address business needs.”

Telstra Limited is one of the largest independent providers of telecommunications and managed e-business infrastructure to business users, providing high quality and secure communications solutions and managed hosting and professional services for mission-critical business systems. Millfield Partnership's hosting services will be delivered over Telstra Limited's IP network and through its state-of-the-art data centres and supported by industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs), including the provision of 24x7x365 technical support via its European Customer Services Centre, based in London’s Docklands.

Phase one of the project – the construction of the data centre and the relocation of the Millfield Group’s core business processing application ATLAS will be complete by June 2005. The next two stages - the migration of site connectivity and delivery of other core support services, such as e-mail will be completed by the end of 2005.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

Telstra Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX:TLS). Operational in Europe for over 13 years, Telstra offers an extensive range of voice and data services including total managed network solutions using Global IP-VPN (MPLS), Internet, ATM, Frame Relay, Private Lines, hosting and co-location services and enhanced voice solutions to medium sized business and multinational corporations in the UK. Additional value added services include fully managed CPE, network reporting, consulting, planning, project management and customer support seven days a week.

Delivering connectivity business solutions, value-added services and complex managed IP solutions, Telstra Limited’s portfolio is complemented by its independently-owned and managed switched network. Switches are located in London, Birmingham and Manchester working alongside 14 co-location points throughout the UK. Additionally, a state-of-the-art, resilient data centre is located in London, Docklands.

Parent company, Telstra Corporation Limited, is a full service global telecommunications company. It has been ranked as the 5th best performing telco* in the world and is one of the few telcos with an A+ credit rating

About Millfield

Further information on Millfield is available at:   www.millfield-partnership.co.uk

• Millfield Group plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in March 2001

• Millfield is a national independent financial advisory company in the UK, offering truly independent advice, primarily in the pensions, life insurance, investment and mortgage sectors, as well as long term care provision, personal wealth management and the corporate financial planning arena. Millfield also has specialist divisions dealing with offshore investment, insurance and employee benefits.

Contact

Mike Duncan – Group Operations Director – Millfield

Direct 0208 604 2662

mduncan@millfield-partnership.co.uk

Pink Telecommunications Plc is one of the UK’s longest established independent telecommunications resellers.  Established for over 25 years, Pink has helped thousands of satisfied customers by providing Voice and Data networks ideally suited to their requirements.  Pink are a Gold Accredited Partner for both Avaya and T-Mobile.  Pink hold a presence throughout the UK and boast industry leading standards for their technical achievements and service performance.

Contact

Peter Southgate – Managing Director – Pink Telecommunications plc

0208 506 6464