Bush Summit Op Ed

When Optus opened its doors to the public in 1992, we had one clear ambition: to give Australians real choice for their telecommunications provider.

And that challenger spirit is still part of who we are today.

Rebuilding trust – with our customers, our partners, and the community – is something we are taking seriously and working hard to do. It starts with listening to our customers and the broader community right across the country so we can make sure we are doing our best to deliver the services, products and experiences that Australians deserve and expect.  

That is one of the reasons why we are proud to be partnering with the Bush Summit – to hear from the people who know best, what is needed to propel regional Australia forward.

Optus is invested in continuously uplifting the service we provide in regional Australia.  In Broome, where the Bush Summit is launching this year, we have fast-tracked the introduction of 5G to the area with an upgrade to existing services.

Ensuring Australians have confidence in Optus is a priority and the key to our future.

Australians look to companies like Optus to enable them to drive their communities forward and to power the innovation and evolution of the future. That’s why we must focus on building solutions and experiences not just for today but for what our customers will need next year, five years from now and beyond.

We know our customers want simple, efficient products and services, a strong, reliable network and the confidence that we will help protect them from scams and support their digital safety.

Optus invests about $1.4 billion every year to improve, secure and run the network in Australia. We are investing in rapidly evolving technologies such as AI and we will continue to fast track 5G into regional parts of Australia so our customers can have access to the super-fast download speeds, minimal disruption and greater reliability.

We are giving regional Australians more choice with faster deployment of 5G to nearly 2,500 regional sites over the next five years. We have also delivered over 300 mobile sites in regional and remote Australia in partnership with the Commonwealth and State governments.

With each leap in technology comes new opportunity—and Optus stands ready to help people and businesses harness these advancements to achieve their greatest potential.

Through our Digital Thumbprint Program we have reached nearly 670,000 students, many of them in regional schools, with free workshops on cyberbullying, scams, and AI. We will grow and continue this investment in the coming year.

Finally, I want to thank those of you who have made our Donate Your Data program a huge success. You have allowed us to facilitate customer donations of 11.2 million GB of data in the last 12 months to those who need it most.

We are here to deliver real choice for all Australians and I send my best to everyone attending the Bush Summit this year.

Bush Summit story on Optus' commitment to the prevention of domestic and family violence with Escabags partnership.

Bush Summit story on Optus and Digital Thumbprint sessions in Wagga Wagga.