Optus gets more spectrum for wireless broadband

Stuart Corner
Friday, 05 February 2010 11:54

Business IT - Networking

Optus will double the spectrum available to it for mobile services in capital cities if its bid to buy spectrum held by an Australian subsidiary of Qualcomm is approved.

Optus says it has reached agreement with Qualcomm to acquire spectrum licences for 10MHz of paired spectrum in the 2100MHz band in Australia's capital cities. The licences are presently held by 3G Investments (Australia) Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm.

The transaction is subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Optus says the deal will double its 2100MHz paired spectrum holdings in the eight capital cities from 10MHz today to 20MHz.

Andrew Buay, managing director, Optus Products and Delivery said Optus would use the additional spectrum "to support retail and wholesale customer demand for Optus' increasing range of data services."

Optus says that, in the twelve months up to 30 September 2009, the number of Optus 3G services increased 43 percent from 2.16 million to 3.08 million, inclusive of mobile broadband customers and that the number of mobile broadband customers increased more than 240 percent to 688,000.

(Optus mobile customer numbers at 31 December 2009 are expected to be announced by parent SingTel on Monday, ahead of release of third quarter financial data on Tuesday 9 February.)

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