AUSTRALIA TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR AS OPTUS PREDICTS RECORD NUMBER OF CALLS AND TEXTS THIS NEW YEAR'S EVE

Aussies are expected to turn to their mobile phones in record-breaking numbers to call and text their friends and loved ones as they usher in 2012.

This New Year's Eve^, Optus predicts its customers will:

• Send more than 76 million SMS messages (an increase of 10 million from last year)
• Make more than 51 million mobile calls
• Make more than 44 million calls from their home phone, and
• Spend more than 3.9 million minutes chatting with friends and family overseas to ring in the new year

On Christmas Day this year, customers on the Optus network:

• Sent almost 70 million SMS messages (14 per cent more than last year)
• Made almost 38 million calls from their mobiles (10 per cent more than last year)
• Made 29.5 million local and national calls on their home phone
• Collectively spent 4.2 million minutes catching up with friends and family overseas

Clare Gill, General Manager, Government and Corporate Affairs at Optus said, "Our research showed more than one in three Aussies (36 per cent) anticipated sending Christmas wishes via social media this year, yet we also texted and talked with friends and family in record numbers - with 70 million SMS messages sent and 38 million calls via mobile, which was more than 10 per cent higher than this time last year." "We are expecting to see this trend continue over New Year's Eve, as people call and SMS their friends and family to welcome in 2012. New Year's Eve is traditionally a period where many of our customers are contacting loved ones overseas. This year we predict India, Vietnam and the United Kingdom will be the three most popular destinations for calls this year."

Optus has recently carried out capacity upgrades in holiday hotspots around the country to ensure customers can stay in touch over the New Year long weekend. Some of the most popular destinations that have received capacity boosts include Airlie Beach, Ballina, Byron Bay, Cairns, Hervey Bay, Philip Island, Port Douglas, Port Stephens, Surfers Paradise and Victor Harbour, amongst many others.

^Prediction figures are based on a 24 hour time period of 3pm New Year's Eve, 2011 to 3pm New Year's Day, 2012

Media contact:
Jacqui Christie / Derek Lau
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 8082 7850