Prysmian signs Telstra cable supply agreement

Prysmian Telecom Cables and Systems Australia recently announced a three-year agreement to continue the supply of both fibre-optic and metallic communication cables to Telstra.

Having competed in a global tender process for this supply contract, the largest of its kind in Oceania, Prysmian demonstrated competitiveness in price, product innovation and supply capabilities to maintain its long-term commercial partnership with Telstra. The contract extends Prysmian's long-term position as the carrier's only contracted supplier of communications cable since 1998, when it operated as Pirelli Telecom Cables and Systems Australia.

Prysmian Australia's CEO, Paul Atkinson believes that the agreement will assist in ensuring Telstra's competitiveness as the country's number one carrier, due to the effective product and service evolution programs that have been implemented by Prysmian, stating: "To guarantee that Prysmian can adequately service Telstra's increasing cable requirements under all circumstances, we plan to double the capacity of our Dee Why manufacturing facility in NSW. This investment will afford us the highest levels of service irrespective of Telstra's level of demand."

In acknowledging Prysmian's award of a further contractual term, Telstra's executive director of procurement, Ian Wheatley said that Telstra looked forward to further developing its commercial partnership with Prysmian. "We are confident that Prysmian is ideally placed to meet Telstra's demands for quality, cycle time improvements and ongoing focus on costs to give us a surety of supply. This contract is further evidence that Telstra is ready, willing and able to roll out high-speed broadband to Australian homes and businesses should the regulatory hurdles be removed. We have a plan and we have the contracts in place to execute it."