SINGAPORE Telecommunications on Thursday confirmed that it was in discussions with multiple parties over a potential stake sale in its Australian telecoms unit Optus, but said there was no certainty the talks would result in a deal.
In May, Singtel said it was open to bringing in an Australian minority partner for Optus. Reuters reported in 2024 that Singtel was in advanced talks to sell a significant stake in Optus to Brookfield Asset Management, although the company denied a deal was imminent.
Australia’s communications regulator said on Thursday it had launched Federal Court proceedings against Optus Mobile over the September 2025 outage, one of the incidents that drew criticism of the telecom provider.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has alleged Optus breached two legal obligations on 1,005 occasions during the outage by failing to provide access to the emergency call service and ensuring these calls were carried to the relevant termination point.
The regulator is seeking penalties of up to AU$250,000 ($173,825) per contravention.
Optus acknowledged the regulatory proceedings in an emailed response to Reuters, while adding that it continues to invest in network resilience and strengthen its systems and processes.
