TELECOMMUNICATIONS – AUSTRALIA

ACCC gives tick to TPG’s iiNet takeover

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 21-Aug-15

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved TPG Telecom’s takeover of iiNet. TPG will now become Australia’s second biggest provider of fixed-line broadband with 1.7 million customers, compared with 3.1 million for Telstra and one million for Optus.

CORPORATES
TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES AND SECURITIES COMMISSION, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, DODO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, IPRIMUS, NBN CO LIMITED

Optus mobile subscriber base hit by competition

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 14-Aug-15

Singtel-Optus has vowed to take the fight to Telstra in its bid to win an increased share of the mobile phone market. As it pursues the most lucrative sector of the market, Optus says it is already spending more per customer than its big rival. Optus net profit was $A196 million in the three months to 30 June 2015. Operating revenue rose 13 per cent to $A1.9 billion.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Optus mobile subscriber base hit by competition

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 14-Aug-15

Singtel-Optus has vowed to take the fight to Telstra in its bid to win an increased share of the mobile phone market. As it pursues the most lucrative sector of the market, Optus says it is already spending more per customer than its big rival. Optus net profit was $A196 million in the three months to 30 June 2015. Operating revenue rose 13 per cent to $A1.9 billion.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Telstra TV challenges tech giants

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Original article by David Ramli, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 29-Jul-15

Telstra will launch the Roku 2 video streaming device in Australia later in 2015. It will allow subscribers to video-on-demand services such as Netflix and Presto to view them on a TV. The new Telstra TV service will be pitched at consumers who do not have pay-TV, and Telstra is confident that it will have no impact on the customer base of Foxtel, in which the telco has a 50 per cent stake. Roku 2 is already widely used in countries such as the US and the UK, and competes with similar products from Google and Apple.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, APPLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, FETCHTV PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD

iiNet founder Malone yields to TPG Telecom

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Original article by Tess Ingram, David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 28-Jul-15

Some 95 per cent of votes cast at a meeting of iiNet shareholders on 27 July 2015 were in favour of TPG Telecom’s $A1.56bn takeover bid. Michael Malone says the suitor is paying a good price for the ISP he founded in 1993. Malone had rejected TPG’s first cash-only bid, and says iiNet directors had done well to gain a better deal for shareholders. The takeover will make TPG the second-largest broadband provider in Australia, with about 1.7 million customers.

CORPORATES
IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MERLON CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD, DEUTSCHE BANK AG

Telstra tells Airbnb tagline doesn’t ‘Belong’ here

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 21-Jul-15

Telstra launched a budget broadband provider called Belong in October 2013. The telco is now challenging Airbnb’s use of its "Belong Anywhere" global marketing slogan in Australia. Airbnb was granted a trademark for the tagline in October 2014, but this was subsequently challenged by Telstra. It has also disputed Vodafone Australia’s use of the "Ready Business" trademark for some of its products.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AIRBNB INCORPORATED, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, ADDISONS COMMERCIAL LAWYERS, TOURISM ACCOMMODATION AUSTRALIA

Flexibility key to Amaysim’s appeal says Ogrin

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 24 : 16-Jul-15

Shares in mobile virtual network operator Amaysim closed at $A1.90 on 15 July 2015, compared with an issue price of $A1.80. Amaysim currently boasts about 718,000 mobile subscribers, and it is targeting one million customers by 2019. CEO Julian Ogrin is confident that Amaysim will continue to grow, noting that Australian consumers are increasingly demanding more control over the mobile handset and provider they use. Amaysim resells mobile services via the Optus network.

CORPORATES
AMAYSIM AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX AYS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOLDMAN SACHS AND PARTNERS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MACQUARIE BANK LIMITED – ASX MBL

Vodafone packages discounted mobile products for SMB

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 15-Jul-15

Vodafone Australia currently boasts about six per cent of the nation’s small business telecommunications market, but it aims to lift this to 18 per cent by 2019. Vodafone’s Stuart Kelly expects this segment of the market to be worth more than $A5bn by 2019, compared with $A4.5bn at present. As part of its strategy to target small business customers, Vodafone will launch new mobile telephone packages under its "Ready Business" brand.

CORPORATES
VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, UECOMM LIMITED

Telcos vie for Netflix as Singtel-Optus deal ends

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Jul-15

Telstra and Vodafone Hutchison Australia are believed to be seeking an alliance with Netflix following the end of a three-month deal between the US-based video streaming group and Singtel Optus. Customers of Optus received free access to Netflix during the joint marketing arrangement, which was used to officially launch Netflix in Australia. Telstra has expressed its desire to be an aggregator of content from all providers, despite owning 50 per cent of pay-TV group Foxtel.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SPOTIFY LIMITED

Telstra’s Penn lays out vision

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Original article by Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 10-Jul-15

Telstra has indicated that it is willing to host streaming video on demand providers’ content on its servers, as part of its push to become Australia’s market leader among aggregators. The SVOD sector is a growth industry in Australia, with Telsyte reporting that the nation boasted two million active subscriptions to such services at the end of June 2015. A recent Roy Morgan Research survey also showed that Netflix boasts about one million subscribers, just months after officially launching in Australia.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TELSYTE PTY LTD, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, TESLA MOTORS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE, ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NBN CO LIMITED