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Worried Optus Chief is demanding access to Telstra $11bn shopping list – in order to ensure its NBN windfall doesn’t smother the competition. The SingTel owned Telco is demanding transparency on how its biggest rival intends to spend the $11bn it will receive from the National Broadband Network, when it surrenders its copper network and infrastructure to the NBN Co.
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Optus Chief Paul O Sullivan warned there should be “appropriate use” restrictions placed on how Telstra spend the cash, he told Businessdaily, worried a cash richer Telstra will kill competition among the telco’s.
“We think there should be full transparency. Where the money is spent should be accounted for,” he added.
The $11bn golden handshake deal between Telstra and the NBN was approved by shareholders in an overwhelming majority last month.
Among the uses it has for the enormous sum, to be paid over 30 year timeframe, is sustaining cashflow in the medium term as well as a possible share buyback.
However, it is likely acquisition targets are on the cards for Telstra, which is Optus’ main fear. If there were no suitable acquisition targets, it was likely the board would contemplate a “major payment” to investors, David Thodey previously said.
“We’d like a level playing field so we can play a competitive game,” O’Sullivan added.
But Optus is not doing badly in the NBN deals either – having recently signed an $800 million agreement with NBN Co, which will see it shut down its hybrid fibre network (HFC) and shift its broadband customers onto the $36bn National Broadband Network, set to be completed by 2018.
The Singapore owned telco has gained marketshare of late, adding 131,000 new mobile customers bringing its total mobile base to 9 million and now has 1.46 m wireless broadband customers, meaning it is a tight race between the two largest telcos.
However, just today, Telstra announced “record” sales momentum and confirmed is on track to achieve its revenue guidance of low single digit percentage growth in revenue and EBITDA.
In June, Telstra said it had added over 1.6 million new mobile customers, totalling 12.2m mobile customers – an increase of 1.66m, while broadband and bundled broadband customers are also on the up.
