Telstra, the largest Australian telecommunication company tied up a partnership with the Australian government for a $1.6 billion deal to buy the South Pacific operations of Digicel. The deal seems would prevent China to grab the telecommunications infrastructure of the region.
Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn said in a statement on Monday that the $270 million deal will hold 100% of the equity in Digicel Pacific completing the whole process within the next six months.
Digicel operates in 33 markets in developing countries globally. The company is headquartered in Jamaica. It is the leading mobile phone service provider in Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Tonga, Nauru, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and the second biggest in Fiji after Vodafone.
Australia also maintained its commitment to support and secure reliable infrastructure development in this region by maturing this deal. The deal also cooled down the anxiety of the U.S. and some other governments regarding the aggressive Chinese telecom involvement in this region with security concerns.
The deal is said to be the continuation of the Australian telecom challenge to China in the pacific followed by Chinese Huawei’s setback from Solomon Island with the launch of Australia’s $130 Million fiber-optic submarine telecommunications cable linking Sydney to Papua New Guinea through the Solomon Islands.
Bottom Line: Telstra, the Australian telecom giant buying the south pacific telecom operations of Digicel in a partnership with the Australian Government to pull down Chinese telecom aggression in the pacific.
