Australia's Optus is seeking damages worth nearly A$28 million ($25.9 million) from the government over a cancelled regional broadband project it had won a tender for.
SingTel subsidiary Optus and Elders Telecommunications - its joint venture partner for the aborted project - are together seeking A$25.3 million in costs and lost revenues from the project, the Australian Financial Reviewreported citing court documents.
The partners are also claiming a further A$2.5 million associated with developing a rollout plan for the planned regional network.
The two companies won a government tender in 2007 to build a $1.9 billion fixed wireless broadband network to improve connectivity in regional Australia. The project was due to receive nearly half its funding from the federal government.
But after a change of government in 2008, the new administration scrapped this project in favor of its own National Broadband Network plan, and the consortium has been involved in a legal dispute with the government ever since.
The consortium reportedly rejected a $2.5 million settlement proposal in 2011 in favor of litigation. A lawsuit was filed last September.