Australia withdraws OPEL broadband funding

The Australian government has withdrawn about $869 million in funding support for a joint venture that had won an earlier government bid to build out broadband coverage to remote, underserved areas in Australia. The government said that the OPEL Networks joint venture, involving Singapore Telecommunications' Australia-based Optus unit and Futuris Corp., did not satisfy the conditions of the contract award. However, since the contract was awarded, Australia also has come under control of a new Labor government. The new government initially committed to follow through on supporting the OPEL deal, but OPEL's alleged shortcomings now give it a good excuse to re-bid the project.

For more:
- see this story at The Wall Street Journal