Open Telecommunications Ltd. is a defunct software company supplying the telecommunications industry. The company was founded by

Wayne Passlow Wayne may refer to: People with the given name and surname * Wayne (given name) * Wayne (surname) Geographical Places with name ''Wayne'' may take their name from a person with that surname; the most famous such person was Gen. "Mad" Anthon ...

as a private company in North Sydney, Australia. Open Telecommunications provides products and services that collectively deliver a new generation of telecommunications network infrastructure. The Open Telecommunications infrastructure includes switching products, content and services, and management systems. At its peak, Open Tel (AX:OTT) claimed to serve the five continents with long list of clients including

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

and

LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, the fourth largest '' chaebol'' in South Korea, and often considered a ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, telcos in The

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, United States, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Local customers include: Optus,

One.Tel One.Tel was a group of Australian-based telecommunications companies, principally the publicly-listed One.Tel Limited (ACN 068 193 153), established in 1995 soon after deregulation of the Australian telecommunications industry, most of which are ...

and

COMindico COMindico was an Australian IP telecommunications carrier. It started as IPTel in 2000 by Wayne Passlow with the backing of AGL, AMP, JPMorganChase, James Packer (CPH) and Lachlan Murdoch (Queensland Press). The COMindico name came from the La ...

(also founded by

). The company also enjoyed financial and technological backing from the networking giant

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...

. The junior telco shared the same powerful backers as the defunct One.Tel:

James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...

and

Lachlan Murdoch Lachlan Keith Murdoch (; born 8 September 1971) is a British-Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, co-chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and the found ...

. It also suffered the same fate as One.Tel. However, unlike One.Tel, The telco downfall is more due to unfavourable market rather than mismanagement. The painful crash start in 2000 before finally going into voluntary administration in April 2002, when its shares were trading at five cents.

A chronological outline of the Open Tel story

The Beginning

The company started in late 1995 with a few software developers from

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

and Optus. The Managing Director, Wayne Passlow was a successful Sales Manager for

Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

Expansion

In August 1999, the company acquired the business of Siemens Research, the Australian network management business unit of

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

located in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. In March 2000, Open Telecommunications completed the acquisition of wireless telecommunications software developer, Indian Pacific Communications.

Listing in ASX

Open Telecommunications Ltd was listed in ASX with the highest first day price increase in history. The Share price went up more than four folds the IPO price. The securities were suspended from the ASX on 30 April 2002 and reinstated 3 February 2004. The company was delisted in 2006.

Acquisition by Macquarie Bank

On 30 March 2005, it was announced that founder Wayne Passlow would partner with Macquarie Bank to privatise the company at an estimated cost of $7 million. In April it was revealed that the sale could be blocked by the company's then-largest shareholder, Gordon Martin, though the acquisition would ultimately succeed. In August, the company announced that Passlow would stand down as CEO. In May 2006, Macquarie announced it had rebranded the company as S2Net.

References

External links

''Media coverage'' * * ''Research Paper'' *{{cite web , title=Archive Research , publisher= Paul Budde , date=4 April 2002, url=http://www.budde.com.au/Reports%5CContents/Open-Telecommunications-Limited-2010.HTML Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Telecommunications companies established in 1995 Defunct telecommunications companies of Australia