Optus to invest $25M in Tasmania to increase choice for customers

The Premier of Tasmania, The Hon. Lara Giddings MP has announced that Optus will give Tasmanians greater innovation, choice and competition for their mobile services through a $25 million investment in Tasmania.

Tasmania will see mobile sites increase to over 100, a three-fold increase on current figures, and Optus will also increase the capacity of existing sites to bring improved voice and data services to the State.

The Premier of Tasmania, Lara Giddings said, “Telecommunications have always been vital to keeping regional Tasmania connected and that has never been truer than in the age of mobile phones, tablet computers and email.

The investment will increase competition and give more value to customers as over 45 towns will have now have an alternative network provider to choose from for the first time.

Optus’ investment will lead to an increase in Optus’ voice and data coverage to more than 96 per cent of the Tasmanian population including the expansion of the 3G mobile broadband service.

More than 80 new Optus mobile sites will be rolled out across Tasmania over the next 24 months and introduce coverage to a number of regional areas.

Optus’ existing mobile sites are also undergoing a significant upgrade program to expand their capacity as part of the $25 million investment.

The investment was announced by the Premier at the flagship ‘yes’ Optus Shop in Elizabeth Street Mall Hobart. She was joined by Optus Networks Managing Director Günther Ottendorfer.

Mr Ottendorfer said the investment had encouraged the Tasmanian Government to be confident in choosing Optus for mobile and data services and as more content rich applications become a part of everyday lives, the investment will give more people access to the next generation data services.

He said Optus would increase their retail presence to over 170 outlets, adding to employment with the opening of ‘yes’ Optus shops in key cities later this year.

“We encourage the people of Tasmania to try the Optus Open Network and we are confident that the Optus coverage and sensational value plans will suit their needs,” Mr Ottendorfer said.