Optus' CEO still wants to cut a network sharing deal with TPG
"If we can work with TPG, that would be great," Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said.
When the Australian Competition Tribunal definitively struck down TPG Telecom's plan to share Telstra's regional mobile infrastructure in June, it was because of problems with that particular network sharing deal — not network sharing in general. And if TPG ever wants to strike a similar deal with a telco that is not Telstra, it will find a receptive bargaining partner in Optus.
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told Capital Brief in an interview that she'd "absolutely" be "very open" to a network sharing arrangement with TPG. "We would love to look at something that enhances the competitiveness in this market for the benefit of consumers. And if we can work with TPG, that would be great," she said.
TPG and Telstra's agreement would have given the former access to thousands of Telstra's mobile towers in regional areas, while Telstra would have gained access to TPG's warchest of unused spectrum, the radiowaves used to transmit mobile data and calls.
But it was not to be. Thanks in no small part to Optus' strident opposition, the plan was rejected by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last December. The ACCC decreed the deal would diminish Optus' ability to compete in rural Australia, and therefore its incentive to build infrastructure in areas sorely needing it. When Telstra and TPG appealed to the Competition Tribunal they were once again rebuffed.
