His comments come in the wake of news the city will soon have its own telecommunications company - Ballarat Community Telco.

"Telstra welcomes competition and we will reinforce the value of customers dealing directly with Telstra Country Wide," Mr Wiltshire said.

"We'll continue to offer new services at a competitive price."

Mr Wiltshire said Telstra had more than 40 retail points of presence in Ballarat.

"We will continue to support the community and customers in terms of service offered and on a philanthropic basis," he said.

"We spend $40 million on salaries alone in Ballarat."

Mr Wiltshire said community telco became Telstra's opposition in Bendigo four years ago.

"Bendigo Bank was the major stakeholder," he said.

"At the end of the day some of our customers made a decision to utilise community telco.

"It's four years on and some have stayed with telco, while some have chosen to come back to Telstra."

Ballarat City Mayor David Vendy said the community telco was an "exciting prospect" for the city.

Ballarat Community Telco, which will be a locally owned telecommunications company, will invest 60 per cent of its profits back into the community.