GREENETHORPE AND KOORAWATHA TO ENJOY THEIR FIRST MOBILE CHRISTMAS WITH OPTUS

Residents in Greenethorpe and Koorawatha in Central West NSW can enjoy their first 'mobile' Christmas with Optus after receiving dedicated 3G mobile coverage for the first time as of last Friday.

Optus is able to bring mobile coverage to both towns after building a new mobile tower on Mt Crowther, which will also enhance the signal strength in surrounding areas.

Greenethorpe and Koorawatha join Woodstock, Rockley and Wyangala as the latest Central West communities to receive mobile coverage for the first time via the Optus Open Network, as part of Optus' ongoing mobile network expansion.

Günther Ottendorfer, Managing Director of Optus Networks, said, "We are delighted to be the first carrier to bring dedicated mobile coverage to the towns of Greenethorpe and Koorawatha to ensure people can easily connect with family, friends, customers and businesses.

"In the last 12 months we have built over 30 new mobile towers across the Central West to enhance Optus 3G coverage in areas including Boorowa, Canowindra, Wombat, Cargo, Cadia Mine, Cudal, Wallendbeen, Mt Bobbara and Young North. This is part of our ongoing regional network expansion to deliver more choice and competition for regional communities, and offer residents exceptional value and great customer experience."

The new Mt Crowther mobile tower comes just in time for a merry mobile Christmas. This Christmas Day Optus predicts customers across Australia will make over 34 million calls from their mobiles and send more than 65 million SMS.

"Local residents can join the millions of Australians who will celebrate Christmas by sending a SMS, posting a Facebook message via their mobile, or simply placing a mobile call to their loved ones," Mr Ottendorfer said.

For more information, residents can visit their nearest local Optus dealer such as Cowra Phototronics, situated at 50 Kendal Street Cowra. The Optus service is only available on a 3G dual band handset.

About the Optus Open Network
The Optus Open Network™ now reaches well over 97% of the population in Australia. Optus continues to invest in improving its network reach and performance, and has built more than 450 new 3G mobile sites in the first half of the financial year alone*.

For more information, visit http://www.optus.com.au/aboutoptus/About+Optus/Network+Coverage.

Media contacts:
Dianne Edwards
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 8082 7850

*For the period 1st April to 30th September 2011.