Open Telecommunications

Open Telecommunications is a defunct software company supplying the telecommunications industry. The company was founded by Wayne Passlow 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 and LG Electronics in South Korea, telcos in The Netherlands, USA, and Peru. Local customers include: Optus, OneTel and COMindico (also founded by Wayne Passlow). The company also enjoyed financial and technological backing from the networking giant Cisco Systems.

The junior telco shared the same powerful backers as the defunct OneTel: James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch. It also suffered the same unfortunate fate as OneTel.

However, unlike OneTel, The telco downfall is more due to unfavourable market rather than mis-management. The painful crash start in 2000 before finally going into voluntary administration in April 2002, when its shares were trading at five cents.