Australian telco Optus is being urged to build more than 500 new towers for its Australia Tower Network (ATN).
As reported by The Australian Financial Review, AustralianSuper, the majority owner of the ATN, wants Optus to come good on its agreement to build more towers.
AustralianSuper entered an agreement back in 2021 to buy a 70 percent stake in ATN from Singtel, the parent company of Optus for AU$1.9 billion ($1.25bn).
Optus uses the towers under a long-term lease agreement.
The deal comprised 2,312 mobile network towers and rooftop sites, with an obligation for Optus to build 565 new towers during the first three years of the contract, and to be the anchor tenant.
However, AFR reported that Optus has struggled to identify locations to deploy those towers, causing it to miss deadlines.
It's caused a dispute between AustralianSuper and Optus, according to the publication, which did note that Optus has said it's in talks to resolve the matter.
ATN boasts over 4,300 towers and rooftop sites across the country, with 700 new sites currently under construction.
In 2022, ATN acquired Macquarie Asset Management’s domestic tower company Axicom for AUD3.6bn ($2.37bn). In the same year, the company agreed to acquire smart street furniture provider ENE.HUB and HUB.
