NBN Co’s purchase of iiNet’s fibre-to-the-home network in the ACT has been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The $9 million cash deal was announced in May. The network currently passes 8,500 premises in new residential estates in the ACT and is expected to pass about 17,500 premises when construction finishes.
“Importantly, the ACCC considered that it was highly unlikely that NBN Co would overbuild the TransACT FTTP network in the absence of the proposed acquisition,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
“The ACCC therefore concluded that the proposed acquisition represents a bare transfer of assets and wholesale market share from TransACT to NBN Co. Accordingly, the proposed acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition in any relevant wholesale or retail market.”
The ACCC added that the acquisition would remove TransACT’s vertical integration in areas passed by the FTTH network and potentially open them up to competition from new entrants.
iiNet acquired TransACT in 2011 for $60 million. Last year iiNet boasted that it had more customers connected to its FTTH network than NBN Co had connected to the NBN.
Follow Adam Bender on Twitter: @WatchAdam Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia