Optus

Optus traces its origins to AUSSAT Pty Limited, a government-owned satellite communications operator formed in 1981 that launched Australia's first domestic communications satellite, AUSSAT A1, in 1985 using the Hughes 376 satellite bus. Following the deregulation of Australian telecommunications, AUSSAT was privatized in 1991 and rebranded as Optus, which went on to become the country's second general telecommunications carrier and a competitor to the incumbent Telstra. Today Optus is headquartered in Macquarie Park, Sydney, and is the second-largest telecommunications company in Australia, serving more than 11 million customers.

Optus operates and has historically operated a fleet of geostationary communications satellites -- including the A, B, C and D series -- that deliver broadcast television, broadband, and voice and data connectivity across Australia, New Zealand, and the wider Pacific region. These satellites have been essential for extending telecommunications and pay-TV services to remote and regional communities that are difficult to reach with terrestrial infrastructure, as well as for providing backhaul and government and defense communications capacity.

The company's satellite division has continued to invest in next-generation capacity, including the Optus D-series Ku-band spacecraft and, more recently, the NBN Co-contracted Sky Muster satellites used to deliver high-speed broadband to rural and remote Australia. Optus's satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and the company maintains the largest satellite network of any operator in Australia and New Zealand.

Optus has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean telecommunications group Singtel since 2001, following Singtel's acquisition of Cable & Wireless Optus. As part of the Singtel Group, Optus combines its terrestrial mobile and fixed-line telecommunications business with a long-standing satellite fleet heritage, positioning it as one of the most significant satellite communications operators in the Asia-Pacific region.