Australian carrier Optus has reached an agreement to acquire Vividwireless Group which operates under the vividwireless and unwired brands for A$230 million cash. With this acquisition, Optus will  gain  access to  up to  98MHz of spectrum in the  2.3GHz  band and intends to use this spectrum to build a new 4G network using LTE-TDD technology.  

Optus plans to use this new network to offer 4G services in metropolitan Australia and will be integrate it with operator's 1800MHz 4G LTE network, which will be launched in Newcastle and the Hunter region of New South Wales in April 2012.

“The acquisition of Vividwireless will give Optus a significant increase in network capacity to address the next wave of data growth that is just around the corner.  By integrating it with our current 4G rollout (in the 1800MHz band), we will be able to provide increased mobile speeds to our customers in metropolitan Australia,” said Paul O’Sullivan, Optus Chief Executive .

The successful completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including the  reissue  of Vividwireless’ 2.3GHz spectrum licence and approval from the  ACCC and FIRB.