AAPT is a fixed-line telecommunications company owned by TPG Telecom. It owns significant fibre and internet infrastructure on the continent of Australia.
History
The company was formed by the division of the communications businesses of Australian Associated Press. In 1992 AAPIS was formed with News Corporation and John Fairfax Holdings as majority shareholders, with MCI and Todd Capital also possessing shares in the company. The company began operating as the first significant competitor to Telstra in the long distance voice and data markets in 1991. The company received a carrier licence on 1 July 1997 and was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November of the same year. In January 1999 Todd Capital sold its entire stake in the company. In 2000 the company was acquired by Telecom New Zealand in stages and delisted from the stock exchange. Along with owning and operating its own national voice and data network, AAPT operated as a Virtual Network Operator in the mobile market on the Vodafone Australia network. In 2005 CommodiTel acquired AAPT's prepaid mobile customer base, and shut down operations a few years later. Under Telecom New Zealand ownership, AAPT required significant reinvestment from its parent company, failing to provide any returns and written down in value by NZ$1.7 billion. In 2006 Telecom considered selling the business but was unable to find a buyer. In 2010, however, AAPT sold its consumer business to iiNet for over $60 million, resulting in a massive cash injection to Telecom New Zealand, who had posted a profit decline in the same quarter. With significant take-up of DSL services in Australia and the relatively slow DSL services available for resale from Telstra, AAPT sought access to competing DSL services operated by companies investing in local loop unbundling. In November 2006 AAPT signed a wholesale network agreement with Powertel to allow access to its wholesale network and installed ADSL2+broadband network. Powertel was subsequently absorbed by AAPT for A$357 million in May 2007 and former Powertel boss, Paul Broad appointed CEO, with AAPT retiring the Powertel name. In June 2011, David Yuile was appointed CEO of AAPT. David's previous role was chief operating officer at AAPT, where he successfully completed the integration of the AAPT-PowerTel businesses and was instrumental in the product and backoffice re-engineering and simplification. David resigned from AAPT in February 2014.
Sale to TPG
AAPT's consumer business was acquired by iiNet for $60 Million from Telecom New Zealand in July 2010. On 9 December 2013, Telecom New Zealand announced that it had sold the remaining corporate, wholesale and networks which comprised AAPT to TPG Telecom for $450 million. In September 2015 iiNet was also acquired by TPG Telecom. As of 2018, AAPT operates as TPG's wholesale arm, supplying broadband services and backhaul to small, medium, large and international ISPs.
