PowerTel/AAPT and Macquarie Telecom today announced a new, three-year, $100 million per year strategic alliance. Under the agreement, AAPT will provide a range of fixed line, voice and data services, to Macquarie Telecom, complementing and extending the reach of Macquarie's existing business-grade carrier infrastructure. Macquarie's carrier and strategy group executive, Maha IKrishnapillai, said enterprise and government customers demand competitively priced solutions with higher levels of service and control.

Krishnapillai said the alliance provides opportunities for the companies to jointly develop IP-based product and service bundles.

"As our strategic partner, PowerTel/AAPT offers the features and rapid product development that isn't available on legacy networks," he said.

"This fits well with Macquarie Telecom's own investments in IP-based infrastructure such as our Metropolitan Access Network that provides high-speed services around major Australian capital cities.

"The alliance plays to our individual strengths - Macquarie Telecom's class-leading provision of competitive, quality services to business customers and PowerTel/AAPT's expanding infrastructure base." AAPT CEO Paul Broad said the agreement is a "ringing endorsement of our relationship with Macquarie Telecom" and underlines the faith of customers in the company's future. "It also underscores the benefits of the merger of PowerTel and AAPT in May this year," Broad said. The three-year agreement extends the relationship between the two companies as Macquarie Telecom transforms from a $35 million PowerTel customer to a $100m customer of AAPT. Australia's third largest telecommunications company, AAPT was established in 1991.

Macquarie Telecom provides services to 3000 business and government customers in Australia and Asia, supporting more than one million business users daily and was founded in 1992.