Vocus splits enterprise and wholesale units

Vocus has separated its enterprise and wholesale division into two units in an effort to reap more from its Australian wholesale business as well as its nascent international operations.

The telco today revealed a new divisional operating structure containing four individual units: enterprise and government, wholesale and international, consumer, and its New Zealand business.

Vocus said the new structure would allow for "sufficient senior executive focus on the opportunities in each segment".

CEO Geoff Horth said the 2016 acquisition of Nextgen Networks in particular held big potential for the company.

The purchase has "opened up new markets and presented significant growth opportunities to the group across all business segments and channels", he said.

"The opportunities available in Vocus' domestic wholesale business, combined with our investment in the Australia Singapore Cable, warrants the creation of a dedicated wholesale and international division and will ensure that we have the focus, products and service proposition to be the provider of choice to customers in this important market".

The Vocus-owned ASC is due to be operational in mid-2018. The US$170 million cable will span 4600km, and will join the troubled SEA-ME-WE3 and similarly in-train Indigo cable on that route.

The divisional restructure announced today forms part of Vocus' ongoing "accelerated" transformation of its operations, intended to address a sprawling technology environment that resulted from a slew of acquisitions.

Vocus has struggled to integrate Nextgen Networks, Amcom, and M2 into the wider group, which contributed to a $100 million profit downgrade last May. The admission crashed its share price at the time.

The company today revealed the appointment of executives to each new business unit.

Vocus' existing enterprise and wholesale chief Michael Simmons will take over the wholesale and international unit.

Head of consumer Scott Carter will move into the enterprise and government division, with Sandra de Castro - formerly head of sales and marketing for AGL - taking over leadership of the consumer business.