Optus plans to turn on 69 new base stations in Victoria and New South Wales over the next three weeks as part of its aggressive new program to increase rural and regional coverage.

Rob Parcell, Director Victoria, said the expansion is the result of a two-year investment program at costing $330 million.

"By the end of this year, Optus will have added 100,000 sqkms of new coverage footprint to rural and regional Australia with 40,000 sqkms in Victoria.

"The expansion of Optus' high quality GSM network means people in many areas of regional Victoria and New South Wales now have a choice of mobile carrier.

"Australians expect their mobile phone to work beyond our capital cities. Optus is investing heavily in ensuring that people who live and work in regional areas have access - not only to a high quality network - but also a choice of mobile carrier for the first time," Mr Parcell said.

The new base stations will provide a mix of coverage improvements ranging from quality upgrades in metropolitan areas and holiday locations where Optus has coverage today; to completely new coverage footprints in regional towns and on highways.

Already, Optus' network provides coverage to more than 94 per cent of the Australian population and handles more than 96 million calls and 32 million SMS messages each week.

For more information:
Germaine Graham
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 5042
Mob: 0413 029 88