TPG Telecom, Telstra park legal escalation of tie-up

TPG Telecom and Telstra will not ask the Federal Court to review the latest unfavourable ruling against their planned network and spectrum sharing deal.

 In an ASX filing [pdf], TPG Telecom said that “it will not seek judicial review” of the Australian Competition Tribunal’s refusal to back the so-called multi-operator core network or MOCN agreement with Telstra.

Telstra, likewise, said in a separate filing [pdf] that it has "now considered the judgement and will not be appealing the decision".

Telstra and TPG Telecom had proposed in February 2022 to share spectrum and cellular infrastructure in regional Australia, potentially for decades.

The ACCC blocked the proposal in December last year, believing it would not result in the competition benefits claimed by TPG and Telstra, and the Tribunal reinforced that decision in June.

In June, TPG said that a judicial review in the Federal Court was one option it would consider; however, the telco said today that it would not go down that path.

Instead, TPG said it would “continue to explore commercial options to expand its mobile network … and will advocate for sensible policy reform for improved connectivity in regional Australia”.

The proposed deal between Telstra and TPG was partially sunk by the perception that TPG had other commercial options available to it, other than the one on the table.

In addition, the decision also hinged on the impact it could have on the mobile market generally and on Optus, though evidence of this was deemed commercially sensitive and was not publicly aired throughout the process.

TPG Telecom could be considerably cashed-up soon if a planned sale of its fibre assets to Vocus goes through, which could open up considerably more options for the telco with respect to its mobile network.