Optus announced today it had won a significant and hotly contested contract to provide the Victorian Government's voice services.

The contract is part of the Victorian Go vernment's multi-million dollar Telecommunications Purchasing and Management Strategy (TPAMS) initiative, created to provide a strategic framework for the procurement and management of telco services across the Victorian Government.

Rob Parcell, Optus Director of Victoria said the contract was a win-win situation for Optus and the Victorian Government.

"One of the Government's main objectives was to grow competition in the State. It saw this was the only way to deliver better, more affordable services on a sustainable basis, and to facilitate investment in telecommunications infrastructure in Victoria, including rural and regional areas," Mr Parcell said.

"We expect this contract will inject $19 million worth of infrastructure in Victoria - 45 per cent of which will be in regional areas.

"This deal demonstrates Optus' commitment to increasing competition in Victoria through additional infrastructure investment in this State. The benefits will flow well beyond the government sector.

"The Government have taken the first steps in building a legacy of long-term infrastructure-based competition in Victoria," he said.

As a strong competitor to the incumbent, Optus is committed to expanding its Victorian network even further.

Whilst delivering voice services to the Government initially, Optus' infrastructure will further enable the delivery of voice, data and mobile services to consumers and businesses in the future.

"As part of this contract we will install our infrastructure in all major regional centres. Whenever we build network in new areas of Australia, we can bring lower telecommunications costs to Government, business and consumer users of telecommunications," Mr Parcell said.

Since 1992, Optus has invested over $10 billion in infrastructure in Australia and will continue to build infrastructure if the competitive environment supports it.

"Optus will bring improved competitive services to businesses and consumers in many parts of Victoria. With telecommunications an increasingly important part of the cost structure of every business, this in turn will boost businesses and stimulate the local economies of many parts of the State," he said.

Optus has a successful track record of working with governments and business and Mr Parcell said he was looking forward to working even closer with the Victorian Government over the next few years.

Media contact:
Luisa Ford
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 5045