The weekday briefing on Australian telecommunications, data centres and AI infrastructure.
Today's briefing
Tuesday 3 November 2026
Aussie Broadband agreed to buy AGL Energy's telecom business for an upfront A$115 million in its own shares, and its stock reached A$5.43 in early trade on Monday 2 November 2026.
Data-centre siting is tightening: Victoria has issued new rules and South Australia is drafting legislation.
Communications minister Anika Wells accepted the operators' voluntary disaster roaming arrangements for the 2026-27 season, so no mandatory framework applies.
Aussie Broadband shares hit A$5.43 in early trade on Monday 2 November 2026 after it agreed to buy AGL Energy's telecom business, with an upfront payment of A$115 million in ABB shares.
Microsoft Datacentre (Australia) Pty Limited made a $326 million profit in the year to 30 June 2026, compared with a $5.6 million loss a year earlier, as AI demand lifted returns on its local spending.
Startup Energy North has withdrawn its June 2028 first-power target for the 1 GW off-grid Project Ares data centre after the Northern Territory EPA suspended its assessment clock on 7 October 2026 to seek federal advice.
Communications minister Anika Wells has judged the mobile operators' voluntary disaster roaming arrangements adequate for the 2026-27 high-risk weather season. That means a mandatory framework is not triggered, and the operators alone decide when roaming switches on.
Eurobodalla Shire Council has unanimously approved development applications for two small cell towers at Mystery Bay on the NSW south coast. Telstra says the Black Spots Program-funded 4G build will reach about 60 dwellings.
Spark said on Monday 2 November 2026 that a connectivity fault which disrupted Spark-connected Eftpos for South Island businesses is resolved, after Paymark put a second repair in place that afternoon.
Premier Peter Malinauskas says legislation is being drafted to rein in data centre development after residents rallied against Quantum DC's proposed 1,200-megawatt campus at Tungkillo in the Adelaide Hills. No formal application has been lodged.
TPG Telecom says almost all of 25 million scam calls it analysed were traced to Symbio, owned by rival Aussie Broadband, as telcos prepare for the Scams Prevention Framework. Aussie Broadband says it disconnects persistent bad actors and has promised extra measures.
Victoria's new data centre rules would likely block Greensquare's proposed 240MW Spotswood facility, but they do not apply to applications already lodged. Information Age reported that Greensquare may have withdrawn the proposal.
JLL research reported by AllCommercial shows data-centre developers paying up to 182.1 per cent above industrial land values in South Sydney, as a $155 billion pipeline competes with logistics projects for sites and power.
DE-CIX and Thailand's International Gateway Co have set up DE-CIX Thailand to build and run an internet exchange in Bangkok, due in mid-2027 and linked to DE-CIX exchanges in five other Southeast Asian cities.
President Lee Jae Myung presented a record KRW 820.9 trillion budget for 2027, with KRW 21.3 trillion going to physical AI, AI data centres and semiconductors and KRW 4.7 trillion to a sovereign AI model.