Australian and South Asian Telecom Plays Could Heat Up (PINK:TLSYY)
Investor Enthusiasm in the South Asian Region Will Grow this Year…
The simple fact is that I like Telstra Corporation Limited (ADR) (PINK:TLSYY) because it’s so well positioned in the ‘hotbed’ region of south Asia. Shares were trading at $15.16 on Nov 23 and are currently trading in the $16.81 range; a gain of 10.8% in less than two months.
TLSYY is a telecom provider based in Melbourne, Australia that offers internet, cable, and phone access, both mobile and fixed. The Company has more than 8.3 million Australian fixed line customers and 12.2 million mobile services customers. It’s kind of like the AT&T of Australia…
The Company has long operated mobile networks in Hong Kong and in mid-December said it had successfully secured new operating licenses in Singapore and Japan, allowing it to own infrastructure facilities and be directly responsible for services delivered to customers locally in both countries.
The announcement followed the recent award of three licenses to provide customers in India with international long-distance telecommunications and ISP services.
In Singapore, Telstra will also build the local backbone required to support its plans for new cable submarine capacity to Singapore and in Japan, the Company will be allowed to own and operate large scale telecoms circuits in multiple cities.
The recent India deal will begin with TLSYY offering services in seven cities: Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
Mumbai and Chennai will be Telstra’s Indian international gateways connecting into its world-class international backbone network, providing customers with direct routes into networks in Europe and Asia.
According to the Company, these developments will allow Telstra International to further realize synergies and leverage assets and will benefit international customers with multi-country operations in Asia.
Telstra International now operates one of the largest and most diverse networks in Asia Pacific. Securing the licenses in India, Singapore and Japan marks a key milestone in realizing the Company’s stated goal to be Asian specialists with world leading services.
This could be an interesting telecom play this year as more and more investors are looking to south Asia as the next geographic ‘boom’ area.
I haven’t, don’t, and do not intend on holding any of the companies mentioned in this article.
Dennis Askew is a paid contributor of the SmallCap Network. Dennis Askew's personal holdings should be disclosed above. You can also view SmallCap Network's complete disclaimer and disclosure.
