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Optus has upped the ante on 4G war with Telstra by nabbing Vividwireless for $230m.
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And along with the purchase of Vividwireless and its broadband technology, Optus will gain access to 98MHz of spectrum in the 2.3GHz band, used to provide 4G services.
Optus plans to use this spectrum to build a new 4G network using LTE-TDD technology, it confirmed today.
It will be integrated with Optus’ 1800MHz 4G network, due for launch in NSW areas of Newcastle and Hunter region in April.
This comes as Telstra, the first telco in Oz to kick off 4G network services last year, which promises faster web speeds (up to double) compared to 3G capabilities, released the first 4G ready smartphone from HTC earlier this year.
The Singapore owned telco will cough up $230m cash for its latest acquisition to Seven Group Holdings (SGH), owner of Vividwireless, who are one of the only telcos apart from Telstra to offer wireless 4G broadband services.
Optus’ new 4G network will deliver wireless broadband to metro areas with download speeds of 25Mbps to 87Mbps – which is “twice as fast as existing competitive 4G services,” it claimed today.
Telstra’s typical 4G download speeds range from 2Mbps to 40Mbps.
Today’s deal demonstrates Optus’ commitment to being a leader in 4G, declared Optus CEO, Paul O’Sullivan.
“The acquisition of Vividwireless will give Optus a significant increase in network capacity to address the next wave of data growth that is just around the corner.”
“By integrating it with our current 4G rollout (in the 1800MHz band), we will be able to provide increased mobile speeds to our customers in metropolitan Australia.”
This comes as Telstra mobile director Andrew Volard admitted earlier this year that 4G was “going to be one of our major focuses in 2012.”
Peter Gammell, Chief Executive Officer of Seven Group Holdings said he was “proud of our achievements with Vividwireless. Optus’ expertise will allow the business to grow into the future and take the pioneering work we’ve done in 4G to the next level.”
The deal also includes the transfer of Vividwireless’ operating businesses, customer bases, spectrum licences and 4G network.
However, the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including the reissue of Vividwireless’ 2.3GHz spectrum licence and approval from the competition watchdog.
