AT&T grows it alone

“With fewer global players, there is definitely more room for a company like AT&T,” sales and marketing director Brett Barningham said. He said AT&T would pitch its international presence to win new business in Australia.

AT&T is six months into its latest tilt at the Australian market following the breakdown of the Concert joint venture with BT last year. The company claims it has exceeded its own 20 percent growth target for the first six months of the year, claiming it grew 32 percent in revenue terms during the period.

However, Barningham declined to say whether that growth was sustainable, or what future growth targets might be.

He said AT&T is spending US$300 million worldwide upgrading its infrastructure with Cisco Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) equipment.

The company has put six new nodes into operation in Australia, with two in Sydney and one each in Adelaide, Perth Brisbane and Melbourne. The total cost of the Australian infrastructure is believed to be around $30 million, although Barningham would not be drawn on exactly how much had been spent locally.

AT&T would offer wholesale products to help make the infrastructure pay for itself more quickly.

AT&T has signed NextGen, PowerTel and IP1as new domestic fibre providers, but continues existing relationships with Telstra and Optus.

Barningham said he expected roughly 60 percent of business to come from local, with international making up the remainder.

The company has re-signed about 400 customers from its previous ventures, and has added BASF, Lend Lease and Arnotts to its books since relaunching last April.