Following a competitive tender, Luxottica, the parent company of Australia's largest eyewear chain OPSM, has selected Optus as its sole telecommunications partner in Australia and New Zealand. In a contract worth $15 million over three years, Optus will provide whole-of-business communications services including voice, data and mobile to more than 730 Luxottica sites in Australia and New Zealand.

Luxottica will migrate its diverse legacy communications networks onto the Optus Evolve™ advanced communications network, a flexible easy-to-manage IP MPLS network that provides enhanced visibility and control of converged business applications. Alphawest, Optus' IT services subsidiary, will also provide a range of managed services to a number of core Luxottica locations, including its head office. In addition to providing voice and data services, Optus will support more than 300 mobile and BlackBerry users within the organisation.

Luxottica, which trades under the OPSM, Sunglass Hut, Laubman & Pank and Budget Eyewear brands in Australia, is the largest eyewear retailer and manufacturer in the world. Luxottica is currently experiencing rapid growth, as demonstrated by its acquisition of Oakley, another leading eyewear retailer, in late 2007.

Richard Deck, CIO, Luxottica Asia Pacific said, "We are experiencing enormous growth in the Asia Pacific region, with Australia leading the charge. To help us manage this growth, we were looking for a service provider who understood the cultural and business challenges that come with integrating multiple businesses as well as the technical expertise of migrating to a common platform.

"Optus' regional presence, through its affiliates in the SingTel Group, was an important factor in our decision to award Optus this contract, as was its focus on customer experience. Our key goal is to provide the best customer experience for eyewear consumers. By leveraging the new Optus Evolve network we will achieve this, using techniques such as digital signage, unified communications and web-based SMS," said Mr. Deck.

John Simon, Managing Director, Optus Business said, "Luxottica is a great success story and we are delighted to be working with them at such an exciting time in their evolution. At Optus we are committed to helping our customers gain and maintain a competitive advantage through the use of new and innovative technologies such as Optus Evolve."

Media contact:
Elizabeth Greene
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: 02 8082 1132