The consolidation of back-end billing systems at the nation's largest telco Telstra is starting to show results, with the telco notifying customers it could now issue them a single bill covering all of their broadband and telephony services.

Telstra has since November 2005 been involved in an AU$1 billion transformation of its IT capability under its chief operating officer Greg Winn, including a 75 percent reduction of its business and operational support systems from the previous high of 1,200. A major part of this effort has been the consolidation of Telstra's billing systems.

A statement issued by the telco on Friday said it would soon start issuing a single monthly bill to some 500,000 of its 10 million customers, an effort expected to save some eight tonnes of paper a year.

A Telstra spokesperson told ZDNet Australia the effort would see billing from the telco's Internet service division BigPond finally integrated with fixed and mobile telephony data. The effort will commence from May, with customers being given the choice to decline to participate if they preferred multiple bills.

The telco is initially targeting customers who currently receive multiple bills.

Telstra will also launch a new, summary bill format in June, the spokesperson added, cutting down the cost of printing detailed lists of phone calls. Customers would again be given the option of keeping their old arrangements.

"Telstra's five-year plan to transform the company is not only about new high-speed networks and cutting-edge technology; it's also about reducing complexity and improving services for our customers," Telstra's group managing director of Consumer Marketing, David Moffat, said in the company's statement.

"Customers also have the option of going online to view and pay their bill, and turn off their paper bills altogether -- saving more time and trees."

Most of Australia's largest telcos -- for example AAPT with its "Project Hyberbaric" -- are currently embroiled in back-end wrangling of their billing systems.

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