Telstra Australia Is Buying A Barrier Firm Called Digicel Pacific.

Key Sentence:

• The Australian government and telecommunications giant Telstra bought the Pacific telecommunications company in a joint venture.
• The move is seen as a political blockade of China’s influence in the region.

Telstra Australia called the $2.1 billion ($1.6 billion; $1.2 billion) deal a “unique and fascinating trade opportunity to increase our presence in the region. Digicel Pacific employs 1,700 people in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, and Tahiti. The company’s future has been the focus of speculation for months.

Last year, Digicel rejected reports that it was in talks about selling its Pacific division to state-owned China Mobile. Telstra said he was contacted by the Australian government “to provide technical advice on Digicel Pacific. Which is “critical to telecommunications in the region.”

The government later agreed to fund most of the bid, Telstra said.

Analysts say the company would otherwise appeal to China as it seeks to build more prestige in the region. “Digicel is a major player in the Pacific, and Australia sees it as a strategic advantage. That China cannot bear,” said Jonathan Brake of the Lowey Institute, a Sydney think tank.

“They wanted to bring Australian businesses back into the Pacific, and they realized they had to provide assurance.”

A spokeswoman of the Australian Telstra Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Reuters Newswire, “Partnerships in infrastructure development are an important part of our strengthening in the Pacific.” The media, Australia, and China are important trading partners but disagree on several important political issues. However, in the face from rising tensions with China, Australia has increased its presence in the Pacific.

This includes providing US$1.5 billion for investment in infrastructure projects in the region as well as joining the Quad Group with the US, India, and Japan and the AUKUS security pact with the US and UK.

The big US bet in Australia on China.

It also funded 4,700 km (2,900 miles) of cable from the Coral Sea in 2018 to prevent Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies from laying it. Now he is also helping to finance an undersea optical cable for Palau. China’s control of telecommunications networks has long preoccupied Washington and its allies.

This has resulted in many countries banning Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing 5G phone lines and networks, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.