Australia's Telstra completes Digicel Pacific buyout

Digicel was founded by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien in 2001.

Telstra Corp Ltd on Thursday said it had completed the acquisition of Digicel Pacific, backed by funding from the Australian government, after a tax dispute between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Digicel threatened to stall the sale process.

Digicel, founded by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien, is the largest mobile phone carrier in the Pacific, with about 2.8m subscribers and has operations in countries including Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu - the most lucrative being those in PNG.