National broadband company Internode has strengthened its Sydney corporate sales team with the appointment of telecom veterans Anthony Hayman and Tim Kupris as business development managers.

Internode is investing in its Sydney office to ensure it can meet demand for its corporate services as customers seek better value for money from their telecommunications spend.

Anthony Hayman joins Internode from a background covering four decades in the telecommunications industry including senior sales and business development roles with Telstra, Nortel, Ericsson, Zintel and, most recently, Essential Data & Voice.

Tim Kupris has worked for major telecommunications companies in Australia and the US, including AT&T and US-based XO Communications - the 13th largest carrier in the world - as well as serving in the US armed forces for more than 18 years, including terms in the US Army and US Navy.

Daryl Knight, Internode’s National Sales Manager said he had recruited well-connected Sydney business development professionals in order to increase Internode’s visibility at the big end of town. “We have a proven ability to deliver cost-effective communications, so the expanded team will now make sure large corporates get the opportunities to see our full capabilities,” he said.

Anthony Hayman said building strong relationships with formal and informal business partners was the key to unlocking growth in the sale of corporate communication services.  “Internode is not well known in the Sydney corporate space, so we will build up good relationships through authorised business partners and informal contacts,” he said.

“While the market is becoming more competitive as the economy tightens due to the global financial crisis, businesses are always looking for more cost-effective ways to run their private data networks and choosing to co-locate their servers instead of running them in-house.  The more businesses look at their options, especially the cost of their communication inputs, the more attractive Internode becomes.”

Tim Kupris said he was especially interested in developing business opportunities in Canberra.