Telstra snaps up Boost Australia for $94M

　　Telstra is to tighten its grip on the Australian mobile market with the acquisition of MVNO partner Boost Mobile. The local heavyweight will pay AU$145 million (US$94.1 million) for the asset, the Australian Financial Review reported.

　　Boost has been a Telstra MVNO wholesale customer since 2012 and the two have built a close working relationship. It is the only MVNO with access to Telstra's entire mobile network as well as the wholesale network, covering 99.4% of the population.

　　It has outsourced most of its operations, including product development, pricing and customer service, to Telstra, while it manages branding and marketing. The attraction to Telstra is Boost's strength among youth and budget users – market segments where its new parent is relatively weak.

　　Telstra reported its biggest gains in the mobile market last year were price rises in higher end segments. It controversially lifted its mobile prices across the board in October, with increases as high as 13%.

　　Boost has nearly 1 million prepaid subscribers, chairman Peter Adderton revealed earlier this year.

　　'Under one roof'

　　Telstra is by far Australia's biggest mobile provider, with around 43% of the market. It reported 2.4 million MVNO customers on its wholesale network on June 30.

　　Adderton co-founded Boost in Australia and New Zealand in 2000. He took the brand to the US, selling the local operation to Nextel in 2003.

　　Adderton retained control of the Australian business, but will have no role following completion of the merger. It is expected to close later this month. Boost USA was bought by Sprint in 2005 and was spun off to Dish as one of the conditions of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger in 2020.

　　Brad Whitcomb, the head of Telstra Consumer, said the deal consolidated the entire Boost Mobile business under one roof and would enable the operator to "better deliver on its multi-brand strategy."

　　"Boost Mobile has been a fantastic partner of Telstra for 13 years and this acquisition cements just how much we value the Boost brand," Whitcomb said.

　　Telstra's ASX stock closed 0.51% higher at AU$3.96 Monday.