Vodafone confirms CWO bid details

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Friday 9th February 2001

Vodafone Pacific has confirmed it plans to sell at least a million customer to fellow mobile phone operator Hutchison Telecommunications in Australia should it be successful in buying the assets of Cable and Wireless Optus.

Vodafone says it has submitted an indicative proposal to acquire Cable & Wireless Optus in order to combine its own mobile business with that of CWO.

As a key part of the proposal it has entered into a detailed memorandum of understanding with Hutchison which would see Hutchison emerge as a significant third national mobile operator in Australia.

Vodafone says a detailed submission regarding the proposed arrangements with Hutchison is being made to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The proposal involves the merger of its mobile operations with those of CWO to create a new, enlarged Australian-listed mobile group.

The mobile phone giant says implementation of its proposal will require getting rid of the other business units of CWO to third parties.

Vodafone plans to sell a minimum of 1,000,000 customers to Hutchison and supply network capacity to the company. It will also sell distribution channels to the company and give it the option to use the Optus brand on an exclusive basis in relation to mobile services.

The other companies in the bid for CWO - SingTel and Telecom New Zealand (NZSE: TEL) - have not yet made their plans public.

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