Primus Telecommunications (Australia)

Primus Telecommunications Pty Ltd
Subsidiary
Industry Telecommunications
Founded 1 July 1997
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Products ADSL, ADSL2+, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Telephony, Fixed line, VOIP.
Number of employees
 500[1]
Parent VOCUS
Website www.iprimus.com.au

iPrimus is an Australian telecommunications company and wholly owned subsidiary of M2 Group. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia.

iPrimus primarily focuses on fixed, mobile and broadband services. Primus Telecom was the first telecommunications carrier to receive a license when full deregulation and competition was introduced in Australia in 1997 and has network facilities across Australia. Primus operates its own fibre network in the five major capital cities; Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth.[2]

History

Market Entry 1997 - 1999

Primus originally entered the Australian telecommunications market in 1996 by acquiring Australia's fourth largest telecommunications service provider, Axicorp.[3] Primus Telecom was one of the first carriers to be granted a telecommunications license in 1997.[4] Prior to this Australia's telecommunications industry was operated as a duopoly between the former Australian Government owned Telecom Australia, later re-branded Telstra and Optus, before the market was opened to full competition in July 1997.[5]

1998 saw Primus expand their operations further in Australia with the acquisition of Eclipse Telecommunications Pty. Ltd.[6] and Hotkey Internet Services Pty Limited.[7]

In 1999 Primus' parent company Primus Telecommunications Inc. purchased the retail operations of Telegroup Inc., a long-distance telephone company based in Fairfield, Iowa who was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[8][9] This acquisition included the Australian subsidiary of Telegroup which allowed Primus to improve their capabilities in the Australian market.[10]

1999 was also the year Primus Australia's U.S parent company launched the iPrimus brand to spearhead the organisations strategy of aggressively gaining retail market share by offering 'one-stop' shopping for bundled voice, data, Internet and cellular services.[11]

Primus' Growth 2000 - 2003

During the period from 2000 - 2003 Primus achieved some significant growth. They were one of many telco providers to benefit from the collapse of One.Tel by actively pursuing those customers left in a lurch.[12] They used this inertia to grow their customer base to approximately 750,000 retail customers including over 400,000 Internet customers by 2003.[13]

Industry Consolidation 2004 - 2008

In February 2004, AOL|7 was purchased by Primus Telecom. This acquisition added approximately 90,000 customers to Primus' existing residential iPrimus customer base.[14]

Primus' acquisition would coincide with much industry consolidation as competitor Telstra purchased a 50% stake in mobile provider Hutchison 3G for A$450 million, Kaz Group for A$333 million and Damovo for A$64 million. Meanwhile, competitor Optus purchased Uecomm for A$227 million, a 50.8% stake in Alphawest and A$50 million for remaining 74% of Virgin Mobile Australia .

In early 2007 Primus sold PlanetDomain to NetRegistry for over A$8 million.[15]

In late 2008, Primus acquired Imagineering Data Centre, a Melbourne-based hosting and colocation provider. [16]

Acquisition of iPrimus 2012 - present

On 16 April 2012, it was announced that Primus Telecom would be purchased by M2 Group in preparation for the National Broadband Network. Primus Telecom was acquired by M2 on 1 June 2012 for $192 million.[17]

In 2012 iPrimus in conjunction with Hungry Jacks launched a free Wi-Fi service in 348 stores, as part of a $6 million contract with Hungry Jacks parent company, Competitive Foods Australia.[18]

Residential products

Broadband

iPrimus is one of Australia's largest telecommunications carriers and offers high-speed broadband through ADSL and ADSL2+, as well as NakedDSL and 3G mobile broadband. Primus's DSLAM network is one of the largest in Australia, with more than 66 exchanges.[19]

Fixed line and mobile

The iPrimus mobile network is a virtual network operator and uses the Optus network, with 2G and 3G capabilities. Primus Telecom also offers a range of home phone and VoIP services.

Other services

iPrimus also offers add-on services including anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, dial-up Internet connection, WebFilter proxy, global roaming and wireless hotspot access. TiVo is available to iPrimus broadband customers.

Business Products

Internet & Data

iPrimus offers business services including ADSL, ADSL2+, SHDSL,[20] FTTH, Mobile Broadband,[21] and a variety of internet services including Private IP Networks, Domain Names & Web Hosting, Cloud Computing, Virtual Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Co-Location and Managed Services. Mobility Services by Primus Telecom have recently included Blackberry solutions[22] and dedicated Mobile business plans.

Voice

Primus Telecom services include PSTN, ISDN, SIP Trunks, Hosted IP Phone Systems, Inbound 1300/1800, Intelligent network. Primus Accella operates as the Business Voice service for Primus Telecom and is a business grade hosted communications solution.[23]

Awards

Year Award Description Organisation Reference
2012 #1 Home Phone Provider Best home-phone provider based upon customer satisfaction in the month of February 2012. Roy Morgan [24]
2012 #1 Home Phone Provider Best home-phone provider based upon customer satisfaction in the month of March 2012. Roy Morgan [25]
2012 #1 Home Phone Provider Best home-phone provider based upon customer satisfaction in the month of April 2012. Roy Morgan [26]
2012 Best Home Broadband <20GB Best Home Broadband for the <20GB category yourmoney Magazine [27]

Internet censorship

Primus is a participant in the controversial Internet censorship trials.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "M2 acquisition of iPrimus" (Press release). Herald Sun.
  2. ↑ "iPrimus About Us" (Press release). iPrimus. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACQUIRES AXICORP, AUSTRALIA'S FOURTH LARGEST TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDER". PR Newswire. 25 March 1996. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  4. ↑ "Primus Awarded Full Carrier License in Australia - Expects Equal Access to Begin in July - 1997". PR Newswire. 9 July 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "Gain Insight in to Australia Telecommunications Market". Business Wire. 23 February 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "PRIMUS Acquires Data Communications Service Provider". PR Newswire. 6 April 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  7. ↑ "Hotkey History". Hotkey. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  8. ↑ "Primus to Buy Some Assets Of Telegroup". Wall Street Journal. 31 May 1999. p. 8.
  9. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUYING TELEGROUP ASSETS". NY Times. 29 March 1999. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  10. ↑ "Telegroup, Inc. Announces Sale of Certain Australian Subsidiaries Which Had Been Placed in Administration" (Press release). New York: Business Wire. 11 March 1999.
  11. ↑ "PRIMUS Launches iPRIMUS.com to Attack Global Internet/Data Market". PRnewswire. 24 May 1999. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  12. ↑ "Ombudsman advises One.Tel customers to make reasoned decisions" (Press release). Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "Primus Telecom Reports Record First Quarter 2003 Profit of A$10.7 Million" (Press release). Business Wire. 5 May 2003. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "PRIMUS Telecommunications to Acquire the Internet Service and Interactive Media Businesses from the Shareholders of AOL/7 and to License the AOL Brand in Australia". Business Wire. 11 February 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
  15. ↑ "NetRegistry Acquires PlanetDomain" (Press release). NetRegistry. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  16. ↑ "Imagineering Data Centre - Company Information" (Press release). Imagineering. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  17. ↑ "M2 acquisition of iPrimus" (Press release). Herald Sun. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  18. ↑ "iPrimus to power Hungry Jacks WiFi" (Press release). 27 March 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  19. ↑ Primus Mobile
  20. ↑ Business SHDSL
  21. ↑ Business Speedster
  22. ↑ iPrimus Blackberry Business Solutions
  23. ↑ Primus Accella business solutions
  24. ↑
  25. ↑
  26. ↑ Roy Morgan April 2012 Results
  27. ↑ iPrimus MobileBB
  28. ↑ Pilot to assess technical feasibility of ISP filtering

External links

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