Optus, Vodafone form Australian joint venture

Australia's second and third-largest mobile service providers, SingTel Optus Pty Ltd (Optus) and Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Ltd (Vodafone), have agreed to team up to enhance their mobile coverage through network sharing and take on dominant rival Telstra.

Under the joint venture agreement, the companies will build 500 new base stations in a span of four years covering the mobile black spot areas.

Vodafone said that in four years, it would have 1,800 new stations, which would include the 500 through Optus joint venture, access to 400 Optus sites and 900 ''3'' mobile network sites that it acquired.

Through the arrangement, Optus customers will receive wider coverage and access to nearly 1,000 additional mobile sites, including Vodafone's 460 sites, helping to strengthen its 3G and 4G services across the country.

The new deal comes as an extension of an earlier agreement between Optus and Vodafone Australia in 2004 for sharing 2,000 mobile sites for providing 3G services.

"As we expand our network it is important that we do so with a sustainable cost structure. This agreement enables us to share both capital and operating costs more efficiently with Vodafone," Optus chief executive Kevin Russel said.
 
''We will bring quicker data speeds, better call quality, and improved performance in more places to ensure Optus customers stay closer to family and friends through the latest mobile services,'' Russell said.