Optus could dole out as much as $100 million in termination payments as it works to remove its cable network from power and telegraph poles it leases from utility companies, according to Australian IT.
It says unlike Telstra, which uses its network of pits and pipes to lay much of its cable network underground – Optus leases space on telegraph poles from a clutch of east coast utilities to string its network from streets to homes.
Following Optus’s $800 million deal with the NBN Co to decommission most of its HFC network and move its customers on to the NBN, Oz IT says some utilities have leasing arrangements with Optus up to and beyond 2020.
It says this means the telco could face termination payments totalling more than $100 million if it seeks to end the agreements early.
