Aussie Broadband switches mobile allegiance from Telstra to Optus

Aussie Broadband is set to revamp its mobile services and expand into offering cellular fixed wireless after switching its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) allegiance from Telstra to Optus.

Aussie Broadband's Phillip Britt.

The company announced the change as part of its half-year results, saying it had signed a new MVNO agreement with Optus Wholesale in December last year.

In an accompanying slide deck, Aussie Broadband said the Optus agreement “will replace [the] existing MVNO agreement for access to the Telstra network”.

Aussie Broadband said it plans to move its existing 19,000 mobile customers off the Telstra network and onto Optus.

However, it is the reach and flexibility of the new agreement that is most attractive to Aussie Broadband.

The new agreement “includes access to the Optus 4G and 5G networks to provide voice, mobile data and fixed wireless broadband using the full Optus mobile network footprint”, rather than only a subset of Telstra’s 3G and 4G networks as it presently has access to.

Aussie Broadband also said the Optus MVNO arrangement is “flexible, with the ability for Aussie to create new plans without the need for wholesaler involvement.”

In addition to revamped mobile plans due out in the fourth quarter of FY21, Aussie Broadband said it would also now offer “4G failover for both residential and business NBN customers”.

Aussie Broadband said it is currently performing “systems development work to integrate the Optus mobile platform into [its] automation and billing platforms”.

The company reported revenue of $157.4 million for the half, and raised its full year guidance as a result to a range of $345 million to $355 million.

It said it would increase marketing efforts in the back half of the financial year to offset a stop-sell on NBN hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) services.

“If this [stop-sell] had occurred in January 2021, it would have affected nine percent of Aussie Broadband orders,” the company said.

“Increased marketing is expected to offset most of the potential order decline with increased orders on other NBN technologies”.

Further details are anticipated later today when the company briefs financial analysts on its results.