Optus and Elders announced today they had formed a joint venture and lodged an application for funds under the Australian Government's 'Broadband Connect' Infrastructure program.

If the Government funds the proposal, the joint venture will offer improved telecommunications services to an addressable market of 2.7 million households and businesses in rural and regional Australia.

Paul O'Sullivan, Chief Executive of Optus, and Les Wozniczka, Chief Executive of Elders' parent company Futuris Corporation, said the Optus-Elders bid was a powerful and compelling proposal from two large, credible and experienced players.

The Optus-Elders joint venture proposes to build a fixed wireless broadband access network to several hundred locations around Australia, delivering broadband services to an addressable market of over two million household and businesses. Over 700,000 will be premises which today receive no sustainable broadband service - thus meeting a critical policy objective of the Broadband Connect program.

If the broadband wireless network is funded by Government, it will be supplemented by the installation of DSLAMs into selected Telstra exchanges in bands 2 and 3, delivering the latest ADSL2+ technology at speeds of up to 20 megabits per second, funded by joint venture partners.

The bid also seeks funding to build substantial trunk transmission capacity to overcome the competitive barrier long represented by the incumbent's backhaul charges.

"The Government has taken a bold and innovative approach with this funding program. Optus and Elders have vindicated that approach by lodging a bid which, if successful, will transform rural and regional Australia by delivering widely available, competitive, proven technology broadband services," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"Optus, a robust telecommunications company, and Elders, with its leading rural market presence and retail branch network, offer an unequalled service proposition to rural and regional Australians."

Les Wozniczka said, "We are delighted to work with Optus to give rural and regional Australians better access to telecommunications services.

"Telecommunications is a critical need for our customers, but it is an area which has been underserviced. The Optus-Elders joint venture can address this in the same way that the Elders Rural Bank brought local banking service back to rural communities across Australia.

"We're very proud about what the Optus-Elders team have put together in our bid. The end result is that we are offering a comprehensive, technologically advanced solution that is backed by our strong service commitment and rural presence with over 400 Elders stores," Mr Wozniczka said.

In September 2006 Elders successfully launched its own range of broadband services and has started to offer these through its branch network to customers across rural and regional Australia.

Mr Wozniczka said a feature of the bid was the extensive new infrastructure that would be added under the proposal through leveraging Optus' existing network and concentrating Broadband Connect funding on taking service to new areas.

Further information, including specific locations where service will be provided, will be released if negotiations with Government are satisfactorily concluded.

Note to Editor
*The Optus-Elders Memorandum of Understanding was announced in August 2006, for the provisioning of next generation broadband services. The joint venture is conditional upon receiving funding from the Broadband Connect program and all relevant company and regulatory approvals.

Optus Networks Pty Limited ("Optus") and Elders Telecommunications Infrastructure Pty Limited ("Elders") have incorporated a subsidiary, OPEL Networks Pty Limited. Each of them holds one (1) share of A$1.00 each in the Company.

About Optus
Optus is an Australian leader in integrated communications - serving more than six million customers each day. The company provides a broad range of communications services including mobile, national and long distance services, local telephony, international telephony, business network services, internet and satellite services and subscription television.

About Elders
Elders is a wholly owned subsidiary of Futuris Corporation and Australia's leading rural service provider. From a network of 400 locations, including 280 rural branches, Elders delivers a multi-product service offering including sale and supply of farm inputs, agency services in wool, livestock and real estate, supply chain management, sale and marketing of meat, livestock and grain and financial services including banking (Elders Rural Bank), insurance (Elders Insurance), wealth management and telecommunications services.