Cable & Wireless Optus today welcomed the Federal Government's announcement to cap the Universal Service Obligation (USO) paid by telecommunications companies for 1997/98, 1998/99 and 1999/00.

Stephe Wilks, Cable & Wireless Optus' Director, Regulatory and Public Affairs said that capping the USO would allow telecommunications companies to properly examine the real costs of the USO.

"For some time the industry has been met with wild ambit claims from Telstra which has done nothing to assist telecommunications companies plan their activities in Australia and ensure fair and real competition.

"Cable & Wireless Optus has completed studies which indicate the USO should be as low as $180m per year, certainly nowhere near the $1.8bn claimed by Telstra. By capping the USO at an affordable level for the next two years, the industry will be able take the time needed to examine the real costs in detail.

"Depending on what our final research shows, Cable & Wireless Optus may well consider bidding for the USO in some regions", Mr Wilks said.

Editorial Note:

The USO is an amount of money paid by each telecommunications company to ensure telephony services are built and maintained for Australians in unprofitable areas. At this time Telstra holds the USO for all areas of Australia and so other telephony companies pay contributions for maintenance of the network to Telstra. In recent times Telstra has claimed that basic infrastructure and maintenance costs have gone up over seven times the amount of previous years.

For more information:
Stephen Woodhill
Cable & Wireless Optus
Phone: 02 9342 7850
Mobile: 0413 318 455