Australia’s Optus Communications Pty Ltd and engineering group A Goninan & Co Ltd are to form a joint venture to explore market opportunities for satellite earth stations in Australia and overseas. The agreement covers Optus’s system design capabilities and market knowledge with Goninan’s experience in project management, manufacturing and installation of satellite earth stations. A Goninan is the engineering unit of Howard Smith Ltd; Optus Communications owns and operates Australia’s four communications satellites as well as operating Panamsat’s Indian Ocean Region satellite. Optus shareholders include Mayne Nickless Ltd, BellSouth Corp and Cable & Wireless Plc, which each hold about one quarter of the company. Institutions own the remainder.
