Australia Backs $1.6 Billion Buy of Pacific Mobile Networks

Australia is backing the purchase of mobile networks in six Pacific countries, a move that foreign-policy experts say is designed to block a military rival from buying the strategically important assets. The government said its export-finance arm agreed to provide $1.33 billion in funding to support the $1.6 billion purchase by Telstra Corp, Australia’s biggest communications provider, of the networks in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. The networks, being bought from Jamaica-based Digicel Group, are adjacent to subsea cables that carry communications between Australia and its neighbors. Australian government’s outlay on the deal is larger than its annual aid budget for Papua New Guinea and the Pacific, estimated at 1.44 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to $1.08 billion, for the 12 months through next June. Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said funding for the deal was part of the government’s Pacific Step Up initiative, meant develop secure and reliable infrastructure in the region. The government-owned Export Finance Australia will help to manage financial and other risks associated with the acquisition.