This is a great summary of what the company has been up to in recent months, but missed yesterday's news of further contracts won, which takes the total value of contracts signed since commissioning up to $3.9m:
State deals put Swiftel on a climb
By Fran Spencer
Perth fibre optic carrier Swiftel has secured its first public sector contracts. It has signed deals with two State Government departments to provide services in the CBD.
Swiftel will supply fibre optic cable connecting the offices of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Treasury Department, located in Governor Stirling Tower and Mt Newman House respectively, in St Georges Terrace.
Swiftel chief executive Chris Gale would not comment on the value of the contracts, saying only that they were “not the size of the Clough deal”.
Swiftel announced early last month it had tied up a multi-million-dollar deal with WA engineering company Clough to provide a co-location facility, managed fibre and national virtual private network, together with a high-speed internet service.
Clough will outsource its entire data centre needs to the Perth carrier, and build its production data network in Swiftel’s facility in Perth’s QV1 building.
Mr Gale said the significance of the contracts was centred on the relationship with government.
“It’s really our first government projects,” he said. “We’ve been working with a number of government departments for some time now and with government it does take time.
“So it’s a foot in the door, and we’re talking to a number of other departments as well.
“It’s a start for us to get some good value for the company and they’ve certainly helped us increase sales from that perspective.”
Mr Gale said a third, smaller government contract had also been signed with the Department of Fisheries.
Although the financials of the specific contracts were kept under wraps, Swiftel said they brought the total contracts signed since the commissioning of its network to more than $3.5 million.
“So that’s three significant government departments, and our view is it gives us some leverage into that market,” Mr Gale said. “The Government is very much looking outside its traditional suppliers, and from our perspective now we’ve cemented our position and our stake in the Perth market.
“The Government is making sure smaller telcos are going to be around and providing a good service.”
The announcement provided a boost for Swiftel shares on Friday, pushing them 1c higher to close at 8c. Yesterday, they closed up .2c at 8.2c. News of the deal comes less than a month after Swiftel revealed plans to make its first move into the eastern States market.
The east coast move came courtesy of a key agreement with Sydney-based Connect Internet Solutions, the internet service provider subsidiary of telco AAPT.
Under the terms of the contract, Connect will provide Swiftel with access to AAPT-Connect’s network, enabling Swiftel clients to establish a virtual private network between their offices in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
As Australia’s third-biggest long distance telco, AAPT owns one of its biggest switched networks. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Swiftel said at the time it planned to offer Melbourne and Sydney clients its full range of services, including high-speed data, voice, internet protocol, co-location facilities and virtual private networks.
