Superloop to acquire Exetel

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 08 June 2021

Superloop today announced its intent to acquire Exetel for $110 million, in a move that would add over 100,000 customers to its base and 290 staff to its workforce. The combined business will have over 155,000 customers and a workforce of approximately 550.

Superloop plans to maintain the Exetel brand, which currently holds the status of Australia's largest private and independent internet service provider. In addition to selling NBN plans, Exetel will continue to offer mobile and VoIP services, which Superloop currently doesn't sell as a consumer product.

Superloop will however migrate Exetel's customers over to its own infrastructure, which should result in performance gains. Superloop reports typical evening speeds of 100Mbps on NBN 100 plans, for example, while Exetel reports 95Mbps. Exetel customers should also benefit from Suoerloop's NBN management platform, which will make it easier to change plans.

A major difference between the two telcos is that Superloop owns a lot of the infrastructure that a telco needs to deliver an NBN connection. This means it doesn't need to pay for backhaul (the connection between the NBN and a telco) and transit (the other connection between a telco and the wider internet). Exetel doesn't own any infrastructure, and instead has to purchase backhaul and transit at wholesale rates. Superloop says transferring Exetel customers to its infrastructure would save the business $5 million per year.

According to Superloop, adding Exetel's customer base to its business is fundamentally about accelerating growth.

"[The acquisition] brings together the high capacity infrastructure that Superloop has built over the past six years, to meet continuing and growing demand for fast, reliable Internet services that are easy and quick to access," said Superloop CEO Paul Tyler. "Exetel's 110,000+ business and consumer end-users will be able to take advantage of that infrastructure."

Exetel' CEO Richard Purdy believes the acquisition will help Superloop better compete against the likes of Telstra and TPG.

"The combination of our business with Superloop will create a player of genuine scale, able to take the challenge to the large incumbent operators which has been part of the Exetel DNA from the outset," said Purdy.

The acquisition is expected to be complete in July.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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