Two of Australia’s fastest growing carriage service providers, iiNet and M2 Telecommunications, have joined the industry’s peak representative body, Communications Alliance.
The latest key additions to Communications Alliance cap a strong period of membership growth, with a total of 73 organisations having joined Communications Alliance since July 2009, bringing total membership to 188.
More than 60 telecommunications carriers and carriage service providers are members of the Alliance - including the biggest players in the industry - along with major content providers, IT companies, communications equipment vendors, systems integrators, leading law firms, expert consultants and other organisations.
Communications Alliance is the peak body for the Australian communications industry. It presents a unified voice for its members in public policy, facilitates industry solutions to industry issues, maintains the industry’s regulatory codes and provides a range of other services to it members. Communications Alliance is heavily involved in the development of the Digital Economy and is leading the industry's response to the National Broadband Network implementation.
Communications Alliance CEO, John Stanton, welcomed iiNet and M2, who he said would bring valuable strategic input and expertise to the Alliance.
“iiNet and M2 are two of the genuine success stories in Australian telecommunications during the past decade, and all members of Communications Alliance look forward to working with them for the betterment of the industry and to the benefit of telecommunications users throughout Australia,“ Mr Stanton said.
iiNet grew from a small Perth business in 1993 to be listed on the ASX in 1999. It supports over 900,000 broadband, telephony and dialup services and employs more than 1500 people in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne Auckland and Cape Town. iiNet has won numerous industry and customer service awards including the 2010 ACOMM Award for Innovation for a Large Company.
iiNet’s CEO, Michael Malone, said today: "The increasing importance of communications, not only in our personal lives, but also to the national interest, cannot be understated. iiNet is passionately committed to changing the world for our customers, our industry and for Australia. Joining forces with Comms Alliance is a very positive step for iiNet, as we both continue to make our contribution to the future shape of the Australian telecommunications landscape."
M2 was founded in 1999 and listed on the ASX in 2004. It is a network-independent provider of retail fixed line, mobile and data services in Australia and New Zealand under its key brands of Commander, People Telecom, Southern Cross Telco and M2 Telecom. M2 also wholesales a full suite of telecommunications services through its M2 Wholesale division. The M2 Group has annualised revenues of more than $400 million and currently employs approximately 430 people Australia-wide.
M2’s Managing Director/CEO, Vaughan Bowen, said of the Alliance, “The Comms Alliance is an increasingly important representative body as the Australian telecommunications landscape matures and changes. Its close engagement with NBN Co is of particular attraction, given the many and varied operational, regulatory and technical issues which such a major project necessarily presents to industry participants.”
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