VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT HELPS SECURE ADDITIONAL TELCO INFRASTRUCTURE FROM OPTUS

Following Optus' recent announcement of its $150 million investment in a nation-wide roll-out of a DSL network, the Victorian Government has confirmed that some $40 million of this investment will occur in Victoria.

Ms Marsha Thomson, Minister for Information Communications & Technology, said Optus' substantial investment in Victoria was in addition to its involvement with the Victorian Government's Telecommunications Purchasing and Management Strategy (TPAMS) initiative.

"The Victorian Government's approach to telecommunications purchasing has provided carriers with an incentive to make new investments in infrastructure," Ms Thomson said.

"The Government awarded Optus a whole-of-government voice services contract as part of TPAMS - which was based on Optus investing approximately $20 million in new infrastructure.

"When we awarded the contract to Optus we indicated that their investment was significant because it would deliver competition in regional Victoria at the infrastructure level," Ms Thomson said.

"We also said that their commitment would pave the way for more investment, and more competitive pricing and service levels.

"The decision by Optus to invest more money in Victoria provides us with greater access to competitive broadband - complemented by their GSM mobile service which covers 99 per cent of the Victorian population."

Rob Parcell, Optus Director Victoria, said the Victorian Government contract had been used to anchor additional investments in the regional business and consumer markets.

"The TPAMS strategy enabled Optus to make significant investments in competitive infrastructure in regional areas. Since the contract was awarded, we have installed DSLAMS into approximately 30 regional towns across Victoria - with more still to come," Mr Parcell said.

"In addition we have now committed to rolling out DSLAMS in metropolitan areas of Victoria as part of our $150 million national investment.

"In total, we will be investing approximately $60 million in infrastructure across the State. This investment is a sign of how strategically important Victoria is to Optus."

Optus recently announced it will roll-out 340 DSLAMs (DSL Access Multiplexers) nationally. The DSLAM will connect to the copper wire running from the Telstra exchange to the customer's home or business to provide telephony and broadband services.

Media contact:
Tracy Monkman
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 5302