TPG Telecom has used its newly expanded mobile footprint to pull Moose Mobile, owned by Swoop Holdings, off rival Optus in a fresh wholesale agreement. The shift redirects Moose customers from Optus’s 4G and 5G infrastructure onto TPG’s network, which recently doubled its reach into regional Australia through a $1.6bn network-sharing deal with Optus.
TPG’s beefed-up coverage and faster 5G rollout now give it the scale to compete more aggressively outside metropolitan areas. Executives at TPG argue this expansion is starting to chip away at the long-standing dominance of Telstra and Optus.
Under the new mobile virtual network operator arrangement, Moose Mobile gains wholesale access to TPG’s network to strengthen Swoop’s national mobile offering. Swoop previously relied exclusively on Optus for its mobile services but now expects the switch to TPG to deliver a 50% improvement in gross margins across FY27, FY28 and FY29.
The company is using the deal to back an ambitious plan to grow its mobile subscriber base to more than 180,000 users within three years. Swoop has not detailed specific reasons for leaving Optus, but the combination of better margins and network reach is central to its strategy.
Swoop is aligning the wholesale move with a technology refresh, rolling out a new billing platform and launching eSIMs at the same time. Those upgrades are intended to streamline onboarding, simplify account management and make it easier to connect multiple services in a household.
For TPG, Moose’s migration is evidence that its network investment is starting to attract third-party brands that once defaulted to Optus or Telstra. The company frames the partnership as validation that its regional reach and 5G performance now stack up strongly for wholesale customers.
Telstra and Optus have long operated as an effective duopoly in regional mobile, but TPG’s network-sharing arrangement and wholesale wins suggest that grip is loosening. The Moose deal signals to other mobile virtual network operators that TPG can now offer both reach and economics that rival incumbents.
If more brands follow Swoop’s lead, competitive pressure on retail pricing and service innovation across regional Australia is likely to intensify. The key unknown is how aggressively Optus responds to stop further defections from its wholesale base.
