Telstra to access Optus national fibre optic network

Optus today announced a three-year agreement that will see Telstra buy Optus transmission services.

Optus will provide Telstra with access to its national fibre optic network for the first time between Sydney and Melbourne via its Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) services.

Warren Hardy, Managing Director, Optus Wholesale & Satellite said the agreement confirmed Optus' position as a leading provider of wholesale services in Australia and underpinned the company's wholesale strategy.

"This is a significant deal in the history of Australian telecommunications. For the first time a carrier in Australia will provide transmission services to Telstra between Sydney and Melbourne.

"In addition, it highlights to other carriers that it is not necessary to continually spend on building their own infrastructure.

"Companies can instead buy it from Optus and have it managed by Optus. These kinds of deals improve the efficiency of infrastructure use for the whole industry," Mr Hardy said.

Mr Andrew Johnson, Telstra Managing Director of Data and Online, said the short-term leasing arrangement provided a flexible solution to recover and redeploy equipment from the Melbourne-Sydney route to other regional routes.

"We have an on-going commitment to deliver products and services that offer the greatest benefits to our customers, in a cost-effective manner. This agreement allows us to optimise our capital expenditure through network re-arrangements and gives us greater flexibility in satisfying customer demand as required," Mr Johnson said.

The Optus fibre optic network consists of over 8,600 km of inter-city cables linking Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide Perth, plus 7,600 km of cable in metropolitan and CBD areas. It includes coastal and inland network routes.

Note to Editor:

Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) is a technology that allows multiple information streams to be transmitted simultaneously over a single optical fibre at rates as high as 10Gbps.

Optus' DWDM system combines up to 40 individual 10Gbps streams or multiplies the 10Gbps up to 40 times more, providing access to hidden capacity in its existing optical fibre network.

Optus' DWDM technology provides efficient and increased capacity for voice and data communication on its fibre optic network. The technology allows for high data rates at lower transmission costs.

Media contacts:

Luisa Ford
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 5045

Emily Perry
Telstra National Media Office
Tel: (03) 9634 2834