Singtel, Singapore’s largest telecommunications company, confirmed on Thursday that it was in discussions with multiple parties over a potential stake sale in its Australian telecoms unit Optus, but said there was no certainty the talks would result in a deal.Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications provider, has been owned by Singtel since 2001.In May, Singtel said it was open to bringing in an Australian minority partner for Optus while reaffirming its commitment to the country’s second-largest telecommunications provider.A man looks out of the window of Singtel’s head office in Singapore. Photo: ReutersReuters reported in March 2024 that Singtel was in advanced talks to sell a significant stake in Optus to Brookfield Asset Management, although the company denied there was any imminent deal to sell the telecoms operator.Optus has faced heightened scrutiny since two outages last year involving Australia’s emergency call service that affected thousands of users and were linked to four deaths. The incidents led to the departure of two senior executives, including the company’s finance chief.Australia’s communications regulator said on Thursday it had launched Federal Court proceedings against Optus over the outages.The Australian Communications and Media Authority alleged that Optus breached two legal obligations 1,005 times during a mid-September 2025 outage by failing to provide access to the emergency call service and ensure emergency calls were carried to the relevant termination point.
Singtel weighs Optus stake sale as Australian watchdog launches court action
Australia’s communications regulator has taken Optus to court over last year’s network outages, which were linked to four deaths.












