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So with all this money in the kitty, what does one do next? Call a lawyer of course.

Whether Optus will act against the Rudd Government decision to cancel the OPEL rural broadband contract is now up to SingTel, with the Australian management apparently making several recommendations to its Singaporean board recently.

The Australian management for its part has remained quiet on whether it wants to let the legal dogs loose on the Rudd government.

Last month, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy cancelled the $1 billion regional broadband deal, with Optus saying broadband remains a key plank in its strategy and analysts note that broadband will be the main revenue driver for the company.

Optus revenue in the mobile division for 2007 rose 4.3 per cent to $4.35 billion, with 400,000 new customers being added and fixed-line revenue also grew, although this will fall in the next 12 months as Optus exits from the fixed-line re-sale services market.