Wireless broadband company, BigAir, has announced it will delay its pending IPO while the market digests a new acquisition.

The company announced today it has acquired 3,000 new iBurst subscribers from OzEmail. The deal, through recently acquired BigAir subsidiary, Veritel Wireless, will see the budding telco take over management, support and billing of all OzEmail wireless (iBurst) customers.

All 3000 subscribers have already been migrated to the BigAir core network and billing systems. The move follows BigAir Group’s recent acquisition of Veritel Wireless and precedes the company’s upcoming listing on the ASX.  The news has prompted the company to delay its listing to allow time for the market to take in the changes.

BigAir managing director, Jason Ashton said that this acquisition puts BigAir ahead of schedule for its target to reach 10,000 customers by November 2006.  “Prior to this acquisition BigAir’s customer base had already reached 4,000 and it is growing rapidly.  BigAir customers are attracted to the speed and flexibility of our ‘copper-free’ wireless broadband networks and they are also attracted to the premium service levels offered across all of the services that we deliver.”

“It’s a good deal for us,” said Ashton. “We aim to be number one or number two [in the wireless broadband space] and to focus on the business market.” The deal actually puts BigAir well ahead of other iBurst resellers. Ahston said Veritel, an iBurst partner the company acquired recently was the number one reseller, while OzEmail was the second largest.

The consolidation of these two subscriber bases gives BigAir more than 50 per cent of the current iBurst business, according to estimates. Ashton said the salemadesense for OzEmail owner iiNet which adopted the wireless subscribers as part of its acquisition of OzEmail from MCI. “The wireless subscribers didn’t fit in with iiNet’s DSLAM strategy so we said we would take them off their hands,” said Ashton.

“We are the only Australian wireless provider to offer a complete range of fixed, portable and mobile wireless broadband services and we have plans to expand our network and wireless service offerings into the other major capital cities across Australia,” Jason Ashton said.  “We have already extended an offer to invest in our Initial Public Offering (IPO) to our existing customers which has been well received and we are now delighted to be able to offer our extended customer base the opportunity to participate in the upcoming float.”

BigAir Group’s iBurst service is a completely mobile wireless broadband service.  It is an ‘always on’ Internet connection that enables users to surf the web, do email, download files, access office VPN networks, and more, all at speeds of up to 1Mbps.  With iBurst, users can access broadband in their home, office, or on the move as it is transmitted though the air waves from local radio towers to a computer within the coverage area, and provides access to the Internet without the need for dedicated telephone lines or cable TV connections.

The IPO for shares in BigAir Group Limited is made in accordance with its Prospectus lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on 20 October 2005.  Application for shares under this offer can only be made on the application form attached to the Prospectus.  The Prospectus is available during the Offer Period at www.bigair.com.au/prospectus.

BigAir Group has extended the closing date for its IPO for two weeks in order to allow its most recently acquired customers the opportunity to invest in its IPO.

For more information, please visit www.bigair.com.au