Yes, but I'd speculate that the significance of this alliance runs deeper. Think about it - People Telecom is a private company, Swiftel is listed.
The People Tel directors, Ryan O'Hare and Colin Marland, are very big hitters and have a pretty impressive record. In 1993, they set up CorpTEL, which targeted corporate clients.
AAPT bought CorpTEL in 1998 for more than $40 million. At that time, the company had become the biggest privately owned phone company in Australia, having recorded revenues of $100 million a year and employed 120 staff.
In 2000, O'Hare and Marland, with the backing of major investors like Village Roadshow, John Fairfax's f2 division and Uecomm, began operating People Tel in Sydney and Melbourne.
Many of those investors were bought out last year leaving just the two directors and two other Melbourne-based private investors holding equal stakes in the company.
As I say, these guys are big hitters. It dosen't take much effort to read between the lines on their intentions vis a vis SWT.
