PowerTel
Encyclopedia
PowerTel is an Australian telecommunications company that operates urban and inter-city fibre optic networks across Australia. The company was launched in August 1998 and received its carrier licence from the Australian Communications Authority
that year.
In February 1999, PowerTel began building a fibre-optic
ATM
network in the central business district
s of Sydney
, Melbourne
and Brisbane
and a long-haul fibre backbone between each city. PowerTel had the right to use electricity network ducting for its fiber network owned by EnergyAustralia
, CitiPower and Energex
through rights held by DownTown Utilities Pty a joint venture between the three electricity companies which owned 34.99% of PowerTel. The ATM
and Frame Relay
network was launched on 25 October 1999.
In 2002, PowerTel secured fifteen-year access agreements for fibre-optic network capacity, linking their Eastern State network to South Australia
and Western Australia
. The company also formed an alliance with Macquarie Telecom
that saw PowerTel take a 10% shareholding in Macquarie and for Macquarie Telecom to use PowerTel's network for the delivery of traffic.
In 2003 PowerTel developed AccessAdvantage which used SHDSL technology to provide integrated voice and broadband service. The service was launched following the local loop unbundling
of Telstra's network mandated by the federal government. AccessAdvantage was developed as an alternative to PowerTel continuing to build its own fibre optic network across Australia.
. Significant past shareholders include WilTel Communications who sold their shareholding in August 2003 to TVG Consolidation Holdings SPRL.
Australian Communications and Media Authority
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is an Australian government statutory authority within the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy portfolio...
that year.
In February 1999, PowerTel began building a fibre-optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
network in the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
s of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and a long-haul fibre backbone between each city. PowerTel had the right to use electricity network ducting for its fiber network owned by EnergyAustralia
EnergyAustralia
EnergyAustralia is a large Australian electricity and natural gas supplier and retailer. A subsidiary of TRUenergy, it primarily supplies the Sydney, Newcastle and Central Coast areas of New South Wales and has, since market deregulation, increased its focus on retail supply opportunities in...
, CitiPower and Energex
Energex
Energex is an Australian energy company owned by the Queensland Government. It is based in Brisbane and was founded in 1922 as the City Electric Light Co....
through rights held by DownTown Utilities Pty a joint venture between the three electricity companies which owned 34.99% of PowerTel. The ATM
Asynchronous Transfer Mode
Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a standard switching technique designed to unify telecommunication and computer networks. It uses asynchronous time-division multiplexing, and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells. This differs from approaches such as the Internet Protocol or Ethernet that...
and Frame Relay
Frame relay
Frame Relay is a standardized wide area network technology that specifies the physical and logical link layers of digital telecommunications channels using a packet switching methodology...
network was launched on 25 October 1999.
In 2002, PowerTel secured fifteen-year access agreements for fibre-optic network capacity, linking their Eastern State network to South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. The company also formed an alliance with Macquarie Telecom
Macquarie Telecom
Macquarie Telecom Group Limited - Macquarie Telecom is Australia’s number one Managed Hosting and business-only telecommunications company. It has a dedicated managed hosting and security facility, the "Intellicentre", which is certified to security standards including ISO 27001 and DSD...
that saw PowerTel take a 10% shareholding in Macquarie and for Macquarie Telecom to use PowerTel's network for the delivery of traffic.
In 2003 PowerTel developed AccessAdvantage which used SHDSL technology to provide integrated voice and broadband service. The service was launched following the local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling
Local loop unbundling is the regulatory process of allowing multiple telecommunications operators to use connections from the telephone exchange to the customer's premises...
of Telstra's network mandated by the federal government. AccessAdvantage was developed as an alternative to PowerTel continuing to build its own fibre optic network across Australia.
Ownership
PowerTel is a fully owned subsidiary of Telecom New ZealandTelecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
. Significant past shareholders include WilTel Communications who sold their shareholding in August 2003 to TVG Consolidation Holdings SPRL.