Singapore Telecommunications’s Australian unit, previously ruled to have misled customers with its data-service advertisements, lost a bid in Sydney federal court to stop Vodafone Group Plc. from publicising its “infinite” mobile-phone plans.
Australia Federal Court Judge John Nicholas today denied SingTel Optus Pty Ltd.’s request for a temporary injunction barring Vodafone from advertising the plans, which offer unmetered calls to fixed-line and mobile-phone numbers for A$45 ($59) a month.
SingTel Optus, a unit of Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator Singapore Telecommunications, advertised broadband plans that offered up to 170 gigabytes of data per month for a set price, while noting in fine print if customers exceeded a set limit during peak hours, the whole service would be slowed to 64 kilobytes per second, a fraction of the broadband speed that can be as high as 100,000 kilobytes per second.
SingTel Optus, a unit of Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator Singapore Telecommunications, advertised broadband plans that offered up to 170 gigabytes of data per month for a set price, while noting in fine print if customers exceeded a set limit during peak hours, the whole service would be slowed to 64 kilobytes per second, a fraction of the broadband speed that can be as high as 100,000 kilobytes per second.
SingTel Optus Pty misled Australians with advertisements touting the company’s broadband speeds and data plans, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said.
The commission sued SingTel Optus, a unit of Southeast Asia’s biggest phone operator Singapore Telecommunications, in the Federal Court of Australia today, seeking to stop SingTel Optus from running the ads, force it to advertise corrections and pay fines.
Net income gained to $1.02 billion, or 6.4 cents a share, in the three months ended March 31, from $903 million, or 5.7 cents, a year earlier, the company said in a statement today. That compares with the $1.01 billion median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Local media have long speculated Singtel may look to float around a quarter of its share in Optus, which might be worth up to A$4 billion ($4.9 billion), to fund expansion in other markets.
Socialite Kim Kardashian has given hope to her male fans in Sydney, who are interested in dating or marrying her.
Kardashian, 29, was asked in an exclusive blog with readers of the Daily Telegraph from Melbourne, if she would consider dating a “non-celebâ€, and possibly a “handsome boy from Bondi?â€
“Of course! Bring it on!†News.com.au quoted [...]
Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), Southeast Asia’s biggest telecom firm, said today no decision had been made on a rumoured partial float of its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, Optus.
Media have speculated that SingTel would look to float around a quarter of its share in Optus, which could be worth up to A$4 billion ($4.9 billion), to fund expansion in other markets.
Singapore Telecommunications is waiting to see what role its Optus unit takes in Australia’s national broadband network before proceeding with a partial float of the business, the Australian Financial Review said.
Singapore Telecom (Z74.SG) extended its gains after sources tell Dow Jones Newswires that the telco firm plans to float part of its Australian unit Optus possibly as early as 1H10.
People familiar with the situation say SingTel wants to sell around 25% of Optus through an IPO in Australia that could raise about A$4 billion ($5.16 billion).
SingTel could use the proceeds to create a war-chest for acquisitions and expansion in markets outside Australia and Singapore.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.’s Optus Pty unit is meeting with bond investors, it said.
Sydney-based Optus is currently holding the meetings, which are to update investors, spokeswoman Elizabeth Greene said in response to e-mailed questions from Bloomberg News.
She declined to comment on whether the meetings are directly linked to a bond sale.
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Singapore Telecommunications says Optus Finance Pty, its wholly-owned unit, has established a €2 billion Medium Term Note Programme.
Rating agencies Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s have assigned ratings of Aa3 and A+ respectively to the EMTN programme, in line with Optus’ current long term ratings, says SingTel in a statement to the SGX.
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