Owners of Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) shares are likely all over the company's earnings and dividends. But there's a lot more going on at the telco when you scratch the surface.
From partnering with an S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) banking giant, investing in a cybersecurity start-up, and receiving a stern warning from regulators, there's plenty that investors might have missed.
Let's delve into three notable happenings shareholders might have missed in the last 30 days.
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3 recent happenings owners of Telstra shares may have missed
Teaming up with CBA
Telstra and banking goliath Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) joined forces late last month to protect customers from phone scams.
Their pilot project, named Scam Indicator, will use a Telstra application programming interface (API) to allow CBA to check if a customer is on a phone call – a major scam indicator.
Simulations suggest Scam Indicator has the potential to mitigate between $15 million and $20 million of customer losses. It's expected to be made available to customers of both Telstra and CBA later this year.
Venturing into cybersecurity
Next came news of the ASX 200 telco's venture capital leg, Telstra Ventures.
It jumped on board a capital raise, investing in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cybersecurity start-up Safe Security.
The software-as-a-service provider has grown at a rate of more than 200% for three years now, but that's just the start, according to CEO and co-founder Saket Modi, who said:
Tailwinds from regulators, cyber insurance, and boards to understand and quantify cyber risk in an aggregated and granular manner are propelling Safe into this exponential growth phase.
Regulator's wrath
Finally, some not-so-good news for Telstra might have been missed by those holdings its shares. The company was issued a formal warning from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) this week.
The watchdog found the company breached consumer protection laws when it cut or suspended services to more than 5,400 customers without providing proper notice.
A Telstra spokesperson said the telco self-reported the issue – caused by a now-corrected error – to the regulator last year, explaining:
We quickly identified a system error that meant customers without an email address on credit management didn't receive a letter letting them know that their service would be restricted unless payment was made.
ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said customers were likely left with "significant additional stress" during times of hardship as a result of the error.
Telstra share price snapshot
The Telstra share price has gained 3.2% over the last 30 days to close Friday's session down 0.12% at $4.28. It's also lifted 5.8% over the last 12 months.
Comparatively, the ASX 200 has lifted 5% over the last month and fallen 3% since this time last year.
