Optus to offer 4G coverage to 90% of Australians by 2015
As Optus' market share lags behind Telstra, the company has announced plans to expand 4G coverage to 90 percent of Australians within the year.
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Optus is set for an "aggressive" network expansion across Australia as parent company Singtel announces it is looking to provide 4G coverage to 90 percent of the population by March 2015.
In a presentation as part of its 2014 investor day, Singtel outlined its business strategy for Australia's second largest mobile telco. Singtel reported that Optus had on-street 4G coverage for 75 percent of Australia's metro population as of March 2014; however, the company aims to push this up to 90 percent of the population nationwide by the same time next year.
This rapid growth will be facilitated more than 2,500 site builds and upgrades throughout the 2015 financial year as well as its move to "leverage access" to roughly 1,000 metro sites through its joint venture with Vodafone Hutchison Australia.
The company is also 'accelerating' pre-build on Optus' national 700MHz and 2600MHz spectrum holdings which will be "ready for switch-on in early 2015" according to Singtel.
Alongside plans for increased on-street 4G coverage across Australia, Optus is on a mission to lure more customers, with Singtel telling investors that it faced "the added challenge of needing to regain trading momentum and market share in mobile and fixed" in the Australian market.
Optus' share of mobile telco revenue declined over the two years to December 2013, while its share of Australian mobile customers also dropped in the same period -- Optus accounted for 30.5 percent of Australian mobile subscribers as at December 2013, compared to Telstra's 52.2 percent share.