TPG to make $228m in mobile writedowns

TPG Telecom will make $228 million of first-half writedowns related to its decision to stop building what would have been Australia's fourth mobile network.

A woman uses a mobile device as she sits on a bus

TPG Telecom has announced it will make $228 million of first-half writedowns. (AAP)

TPG Telecom will make $228 million of first-half writedowns related to its decision to stop building its mobile network.

The broadband provider says it will write down the value of its spectrum licences by about $92 million and its mobile network capital expenditure by $76 million, while writing off $60 million in interest expenses.

TPG, which will announce its first-half results on March 19, last month cited the federal government's ban on using equipment from China's Huawei when it scrapped its planned $2 billion mobile network.

Analysts have suggested the move was designed to ease its merger with rival Vodafone Australia past the competition watchdog.

TPG paid $1.26 billion for mobile spectrum in 2017 and spent $100 million of the $600 million in construction costs before scrapping its network plan in January.

Equipment was purchased for 1,500 sites and TPG had fully or partially completed the implementation of just over 900 small cell sites.

The company said it made no commercial sense to invest further shareholder funds in a network that could not be upgraded to 5G.

TPG on Tuesday said it hoped, in the event of a successful merger, the mobile sites already built would be complementary to Vodafone's mobile network.

TPG shares dropped by almost 1 per cent to $6.57 at 1043 AEDT.


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Published 26 February 2019 11:00am
Source: AAP


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