Optus reports improved customer base prior to outages
It has been the most scrutinized company in Australia in recent months, but Optus has continued to gain customers and grow earnings.
Leaders of beleaguered Telecommunications companies made vile apologies and were hauled before parliament after multiple failures to connect with the triple zero network.
The outages, which began in mid-September, were linked to four deaths.
But the financial toll for Australia’s second-largest telecoms company is not yet clear given its half-year results, released on Wednesday and covering the six months to September.
The Singapore-owned business reported 169,000 new mobile customers and 30,000 new postpaid customers on September 30 compared to a year ago.
Optus currently has 10.9 million mobile customers, according to figures from its annual report.
EBITDA rose 7.2 per cent in the six months to 30 September; Operating income increased by 1.7 percent to $4.09 billion.
Half-year earnings before interest and tax increased to $283 million, from $223 million in the same period last year.
The reporting period includes the sale of English Premier League broadcasting rights to Nine as the Telco focuses on “core operations” and the transfer of 340 mobile towers and rooftop spaces to Waveconn to “free up capital for future network investments”.
Optus has suffered serious reputational damage due to triple zero cuts.
A new problem was reported last week, with a fiber outage in NSW’s Hunter Valley affecting customers’ ability to contact emergency services.
Optus has commissioned an independent review into the cuts, led by Kerry Schott, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
“Dr Schott will report his findings to the Optus Board of Directors and following the evaluation the Board will make the report public,” a statement released on Wednesday said.
Optus has also pledged to hire 300 new Australia-based contact center employees and put forward plans for “onshore” network operations in Australia.
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