1 00:00:03,460 --> 00:00:06,250 Sean Aylmer: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Daily Interview. I'm Sean 2 00:00:06,250 --> 00:00:10,140 Sean Aylmer: Aylmer. 2021 was an incredible year for deals. They ranged 3 00:00:10,140 --> 00:00:12,959 Sean Aylmer: from multi- billion dollar bids for the likes of Afterpay 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,120 Sean Aylmer: in Sydney Airport, through to what seemed like daily announcements 5 00:00:16,170 --> 00:00:19,009 Sean Aylmer: of smaller acquisitions. I wanted to have a look at 6 00:00:19,010 --> 00:00:20,570 Sean Aylmer: what's in store for this year, and what it all 7 00:00:20,570 --> 00:00:23,869 Sean Aylmer: means for investors. Also, what it's like for a company 8 00:00:23,870 --> 00:00:27,250 Sean Aylmer: involved in that M& A activity. Alex West is the 9 00:00:27,250 --> 00:00:31,620 Sean Aylmer: CEO of ASX listed TELCO, Swoop, which is backed by 10 00:00:31,620 --> 00:00:35,370 Sean Aylmer: Andrew Forrest's Tattarang. Throughout his career at companies like Vocus 11 00:00:35,370 --> 00:00:38,330 Sean Aylmer: Group, Alex has been involved in more than 50 company 12 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,310 Sean Aylmer: acquisitions and integrations, so he certainly knows what he's talking 13 00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:43,930 Sean Aylmer: about. Alex, welcome to Fear and Greed. 14 00:00:44,659 --> 00:00:45,650 Alex West: Morning, Sean. Thank you for having me. 15 00:00:46,260 --> 00:00:48,520 Sean Aylmer: We'll get onto the M& A activity shortly, but tell 16 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,699 Sean Aylmer: me a little bit about Swoop. Exactly what you are doing, 17 00:00:51,700 --> 00:00:52,450 Sean Aylmer: how you're going. 18 00:00:52,790 --> 00:00:57,990 Alex West: Look, Swoop's an infrastructure based telecommunications company, providing mainly data 19 00:00:57,990 --> 00:01:02,150 Alex West: services over fixed wireless to residential, small and medium business 20 00:01:02,420 --> 00:01:06,910 Alex West: and channel customers. We were formed by the merger of 21 00:01:07,510 --> 00:01:10,490 Alex West: Serious Communications and NodeOne, and then we had a reverse 22 00:01:10,490 --> 00:01:16,209 Alex West: listing in May 2021, by STEMify to go onto the ASX. It's been 23 00:01:16,670 --> 00:01:17,990 Alex West: plenty of acquisitions since then. 24 00:01:18,660 --> 00:01:22,190 Sean Aylmer: Okay. The listing, how did that process go? I'm sure 25 00:01:22,190 --> 00:01:26,089 Sean Aylmer: listing access is capital, but there's also lots of bureaucracy, 26 00:01:26,090 --> 00:01:28,650 Sean Aylmer: for want of a better term, involved in listing. 27 00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:32,080 Alex West: Look, it's definitely a process. You have to make sure 28 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,110 Alex West: that you one, you're ready to list so that you ... 29 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,000 Alex West: Part of being a public company is we have regular 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,929 Alex West: reporting cycles. At the moment we're quarterly, but also half 31 00:01:39,930 --> 00:01:42,380 Alex West: year and full year results. You have to make sure 32 00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:44,289 Alex West: that your company's in a position to be able to 33 00:01:44,290 --> 00:01:46,479 Alex West: provide those, and provide a good story as you do 34 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,130 Alex West: it. You don't necessarily want to be figuring things out 35 00:01:49,130 --> 00:01:50,610 Alex West: as you go when you're listing. 36 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:51,680 Sean Aylmer: Yep. Yep. 37 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:55,110 Alex West: But, yes. The bureaucracy, as with most things, it is just a process. 38 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:58,570 Alex West: It took us almost 12 months from the initial conversations 39 00:01:58,570 --> 00:01:59,420 Alex West: to the time when we were listed. 40 00:02:00,650 --> 00:02:03,780 Sean Aylmer: Okay. You listed last year, as you mentioned. You've had 41 00:02:03,780 --> 00:02:05,610 Sean Aylmer: six acquisitions since then. Is that right? 42 00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:09,150 Alex West: Yes, I think it's six. Yes. 43 00:02:09,510 --> 00:02:13,889 Sean Aylmer: Okay. In your business, what are you looking for when 44 00:02:13,889 --> 00:02:17,870 Sean Aylmer: considering an acquisition? If you've taken on six, just explain 45 00:02:17,870 --> 00:02:18,740 Sean Aylmer: what you're looking for? 46 00:02:19,010 --> 00:02:21,940 Alex West: Certainly. Look, we are looking for companies that either have 47 00:02:21,940 --> 00:02:25,060 Alex West: a product or capability that we don't have. We focus 48 00:02:25,070 --> 00:02:29,980 Alex West: both on infrastructure companies in geographies that we're targeting, so 49 00:02:29,980 --> 00:02:32,829 Alex West: someone that has network where we want to be. Or 50 00:02:32,830 --> 00:02:35,870 Alex West: more recently, we've looked at infrastructure that pairs quite well. 51 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,570 Alex West: We are predominantly a fixed wireless company. We have the 52 00:02:38,570 --> 00:02:42,090 Alex West: largest fixed wireless footprint in Australia, and we're now looking 53 00:02:42,090 --> 00:02:44,580 Alex West: at some fiber acquisitions to pair with that fixed wireless 54 00:02:44,580 --> 00:02:48,980 Alex West: to improve our offerings, as well as lower some of 55 00:02:48,980 --> 00:02:51,940 Alex West: our cost base and improve some of our services. Also, 56 00:02:51,940 --> 00:02:57,480 Alex West: look telecommunications can be a ... Profitability can be around scale, 57 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,630 Alex West: so you potentially need a certain amount of scale to 58 00:02:59,630 --> 00:03:01,850 Alex West: be able to become profitable. Now that we have a 59 00:03:01,850 --> 00:03:05,089 Alex West: national and international network, we're looking to add customers to 60 00:03:05,090 --> 00:03:08,370 Alex West: this both organically and to acquisition as well. We've found 61 00:03:08,430 --> 00:03:11,760 Alex West: more recently that we're actually able to acquire customers to 62 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,230 Alex West: acquisition far more efficiently than we would if we were 63 00:03:15,230 --> 00:03:15,960 Alex West: doing it organically. 64 00:03:16,310 --> 00:03:19,769 Sean Aylmer: Is it the back office where you get the synergies 65 00:03:19,770 --> 00:03:22,000 Sean Aylmer: that actually ensures that its earnings are (inaudible) when 66 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,290 Sean Aylmer: you're making these acquisitions? How does that work? 67 00:03:24,389 --> 00:03:28,180 Alex West: Yeah. Absolutely. There's two main sources of synergies for us. 68 00:03:28,220 --> 00:03:30,139 Alex West: Most of the companies we're looking at are quite small, 69 00:03:30,139 --> 00:03:32,410 Alex West: so they're running fairly lean, so we're keeping all the 70 00:03:32,410 --> 00:03:36,430 Alex West: people. We look at back office costs like finance, and 71 00:03:36,430 --> 00:03:39,040 Alex West: legal, and HR, that don't necessarily exist, but they'd be 72 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,619 Alex West: outsourcing. Also in telecommunications, it is about network, so we 73 00:03:43,620 --> 00:03:47,000 Alex West: are looking at canceling supplier contracts or moving off supplier 74 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,640 Alex West: contracts onto our own network. We're getting synergies through that 75 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:50,280 Alex West: space as well. 76 00:03:52,110 --> 00:03:55,300 Sean Aylmer: Okay. Earlier this month you announced an acquisition, but reading 77 00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:57,290 Sean Aylmer: it that didn't look very wireless to me. 78 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:01,230 Alex West: No, certainly not. It was all in fiber. Fiber, for 79 00:04:01,230 --> 00:04:04,010 Alex West: us, it pairs very well with fixed wireless. We use 80 00:04:04,010 --> 00:04:06,980 Alex West: fiber to run to our base stations to lower cost 81 00:04:06,980 --> 00:04:08,650 Alex West: in backhaul. We now own the backhaul- 82 00:04:08,710 --> 00:04:08,711 Sean Aylmer: Yep. 83 00:04:08,711 --> 00:04:11,660 Alex West: ... to those towers. Also, it allows us to increase 84 00:04:11,660 --> 00:04:14,840 Alex West: bandwidth. Now we've obviously, as a management group, have significant 85 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,700 Alex West: experience in fiber, having previously worked at companies like PIPE 86 00:04:17,700 --> 00:04:22,210 Alex West: Networks, which became TPG and Vocus and Superloop and Nextgen and 87 00:04:22,210 --> 00:04:24,940 Alex West: the likes, some of Australia's largest fiber companies. 88 00:04:25,220 --> 00:04:27,150 Sean Aylmer: Okay. I hesitate to ask this question because I'm going 89 00:04:27,150 --> 00:04:28,100 Sean Aylmer: to look pretty stupid. 90 00:04:28,210 --> 00:04:28,760 Alex West: No, it's all right. 91 00:04:30,170 --> 00:04:33,310 Sean Aylmer: The whole idea of the wireless first fiber argument, which 92 00:04:33,310 --> 00:04:34,929 Sean Aylmer: has been going on for years now, ever since the 93 00:04:34,930 --> 00:04:37,870 Sean Aylmer: NBN was created, it just sounds to me the answer 94 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:41,700 Sean Aylmer: to that though is fairly simple. It's fiber optic and 95 00:04:41,930 --> 00:04:44,450 Sean Aylmer: wireless, as opposed to all wireless. 96 00:04:44,850 --> 00:04:48,100 Alex West: Look. Absolutely. We believe that's the case, and that's our business model. 97 00:04:48,779 --> 00:04:51,529 Alex West: We use fiber to get to hubs, and from those 98 00:04:51,529 --> 00:04:53,500 Alex West: hubs we use wireless to get to people's houses. To 99 00:04:54,410 --> 00:04:56,710 Alex West: run a fiber down the street, say a kilometer from 100 00:04:56,710 --> 00:04:59,410 Alex West: a data center to a customer, you're probably looking at around a 101 00:04:59,410 --> 00:05:00,650 Alex West: hundred K of CapEx- 102 00:05:00,730 --> 00:05:00,731 Sean Aylmer: Right. 103 00:05:00,731 --> 00:05:03,760 Alex West: ... both in terms of the street restoration, as well as 104 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,279 Alex West: getting into the building itself. For that same amount of CapEx, 105 00:05:06,790 --> 00:05:08,810 Alex West: we could put up two to three towers and service 106 00:05:09,460 --> 00:05:13,410 Alex West: an entire town from a 10 kilometer radius. A fixed wireless is far 107 00:05:13,410 --> 00:05:16,989 Alex West: more efficient to provide services at a lower cost at 108 00:05:16,990 --> 00:05:20,020 Alex West: the bandwidth that most residences would be happy with. We're 109 00:05:20,020 --> 00:05:23,619 Alex West: talking now a hundred to 200 Meg comfortably. The reason for that 110 00:05:23,670 --> 00:05:26,550 Alex West: is, in more recent times, there's been significant improvement in 111 00:05:26,550 --> 00:05:29,320 Alex West: fixed wireless technology. When previously five years ago, you were 112 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:31,540 Alex West: talking five to 10 megs, so worse than the copper 113 00:05:32,210 --> 00:05:35,049 Alex West: that was out there, now we're able to provide services from 114 00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:37,820 Alex West: anywhere from a hundred Meg to 200 Meg cost effectively, or 115 00:05:38,140 --> 00:05:40,680 Alex West: specialist point to point lengths up to a gig for 116 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,120 Alex West: businesses that are looking for that sort of thing. 117 00:05:42,490 --> 00:05:44,429 Sean Aylmer: Stay with me Alex. We'll be back in a minute. 118 00:05:48,990 --> 00:05:52,859 Sean Aylmer: I'm speaking to Alex West, CEO of TELCO Swoop. It's 119 00:05:53,270 --> 00:05:56,400 Sean Aylmer: another point in terms of acquisitions, technology in your area 120 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,610 Sean Aylmer: changes faster than most other areas I would suspect. How 121 00:06:00,620 --> 00:06:02,940 Sean Aylmer: do you know when you are buying these companies? How 122 00:06:02,940 --> 00:06:05,360 Sean Aylmer: do you take that into account, just how fast technology 123 00:06:05,420 --> 00:06:06,100 Sean Aylmer: is changing? 124 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,960 Alex West: Sure. Look, obviously we are looking forward in terms of 125 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,330 Alex West: what technology could potentially be. When we are looking at, 126 00:06:11,330 --> 00:06:14,810 Alex West: say fixed wireless companies where their technology is changing the 127 00:06:14,810 --> 00:06:19,040 Alex West: fastest, we generally you see that the site acquisition itself, so 128 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,680 Alex West: as in putting your equipment on top of the building, 129 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,520 Alex West: is probably the most complicated and time- consuming process. Whereas 130 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,990 Alex West: changing out the equipment, particularly nowadays with how cost- effective 131 00:06:28,990 --> 00:06:32,810 Alex West: it is, is relatively low cost in comparison. Even if the 132 00:06:32,810 --> 00:06:35,560 Alex West: technology was to shift over the next five to 10 133 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,860 Alex West: years, having these sites under our control and being able 134 00:06:38,860 --> 00:06:42,100 Alex West: to deploy new equipment on those in the areas where 135 00:06:42,100 --> 00:06:42,820 Alex West: customers want- 136 00:06:43,010 --> 00:06:43,010 Sean Aylmer: Yep. 137 00:06:43,010 --> 00:06:45,650 Alex West: ... new things, it's a relatively easy process- 138 00:06:45,890 --> 00:06:45,890 Sean Aylmer: Okay. 139 00:06:45,890 --> 00:06:48,050 Alex West: ... in comparison to going off and acquiring the sites 140 00:06:48,050 --> 00:06:49,029 Alex West: and building it from scratch. 141 00:06:49,660 --> 00:06:51,470 Sean Aylmer: What's a bad acquisition look like Alex? 142 00:06:53,470 --> 00:06:57,109 Alex West: Yes. Look, typically the reason why acquisitions can go wrong 143 00:06:57,210 --> 00:07:00,490 Alex West: is, you're either moving into a space that you have 144 00:07:00,490 --> 00:07:04,219 Alex West: no experience in. Potentially following technology or following something that 145 00:07:04,220 --> 00:07:05,920 Alex West: you don't have any experience with. You're trying to learn 146 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,860 Alex West: it as you acquire. That, or you have just cultural 147 00:07:09,860 --> 00:07:13,980 Alex West: mismatches. Most of the acquisitions I've seen go poorly, and 148 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,520 Alex West: integrations go poorly, is because the people don't have the same 149 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,180 Alex West: views in terms of how to treat customers, what an 150 00:07:19,180 --> 00:07:21,860 Alex West: acquisition or an integration should look like, and then they 151 00:07:21,860 --> 00:07:24,390 Alex West: potentially just go off in separate directions whilst trying to 152 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:25,340 Alex West: be part of the same business. 153 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,100 Sean Aylmer: Okay. Talking about integration, is there a cookie cutter approach 154 00:07:29,100 --> 00:07:31,370 Sean Aylmer: to integration or is it case by case? 155 00:07:31,990 --> 00:07:35,430 Alex West: Look, we use the same frameworks, but you get different 156 00:07:35,430 --> 00:07:38,500 Alex West: answers from the same questions. You're looking at who's staying, 157 00:07:38,500 --> 00:07:41,340 Alex West: who's going, what's the culture like, what are you going to do 158 00:07:41,340 --> 00:07:43,040 Alex West: with the office spaces, what are you going to do 159 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,730 Alex West: with your networks? You ask generally the same questions. Those 160 00:07:45,730 --> 00:07:48,620 Alex West: answers dictate what becomes the most important thing in terms 161 00:07:48,620 --> 00:07:50,630 Alex West: of the integration. The one thing I have learnt over 162 00:07:50,630 --> 00:07:53,960 Alex West: time is, communicate often with both sides, so both the 163 00:07:54,130 --> 00:07:56,550 Alex West: companies that you're currently in, as well as the company that 164 00:07:56,550 --> 00:07:59,760 Alex West: you're acquiring. Be very clear about what the outlook looks 165 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,100 Alex West: like in the end goal, but then don't necessarily rush 166 00:08:02,100 --> 00:08:04,530 Alex West: it. We've tried to rush a few over the years 167 00:08:04,530 --> 00:08:07,640 Alex West: that haven't necessarily gone because people need the time to 168 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,210 Alex West: get used to the change. Most people are happy and 169 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:12,310 Alex West: comfortable with the change that they see, the reason for 170 00:08:12,370 --> 00:08:14,270 Alex West: it being part of a much bigger company that's growing, 171 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,110 Alex West: and changing things in the industry is always exciting. 172 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,540 Sean Aylmer: The old adage, culture trumps strategy, is that right in 173 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:20,950 Sean Aylmer: terms of M& A? 174 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,850 Alex West: Yeah. Look, acquire for the right strategy, but focus on 175 00:08:23,850 --> 00:08:27,390 Alex West: your culture, otherwise you'll fail. You're generally acquiring because of 176 00:08:27,390 --> 00:08:30,190 Alex West: a strategy, but you're integrating because you're trying to integrate 177 00:08:30,190 --> 00:08:33,640 Alex West: culture. If you don't get the culture right, your integration 178 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,210 Alex West: will fail and your acquisition will ultimately be a failure, 179 00:08:36,260 --> 00:08:38,699 Alex West: and you won't get the synergies or the things. We've 180 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:40,600 Alex West: seen that through some larger ones. I think there aren't 181 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:42,670 Alex West: that many successful larger mergers. 182 00:08:43,660 --> 00:08:46,739 Sean Aylmer: Just onto the more general economy and the number of 183 00:08:46,970 --> 00:08:49,620 Sean Aylmer: massive mergers going on, particularly last year was quite an 184 00:08:49,620 --> 00:08:52,670 Sean Aylmer: incredible year. Is it just an easy money argument? Do 185 00:08:52,670 --> 00:08:55,240 Sean Aylmer: you think it's going to keep going this year? What's your take on it? 186 00:08:55,610 --> 00:08:57,790 Alex West: Look, I can speak to my industry probably more than 187 00:08:58,010 --> 00:09:00,740 Alex West: any others. There's always been a lot of consolidation in 188 00:09:00,750 --> 00:09:02,260 Alex West: the telecommunication space, I think. 189 00:09:02,300 --> 00:09:02,490 Sean Aylmer: Yeah. 190 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,710 Alex West: People go out, and smart people leave companies, and founders 191 00:09:05,790 --> 00:09:08,880 Alex West: build great products, and then they become ultimately targets for 192 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,959 Alex West: acquisition. They're building for an exit. They're gone somewhere 50 193 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,002 Alex West: odd, in terms of acquisitions and integrations, and they've (crosstalk) - 194 00:09:15,002 --> 00:09:15,003 Sean Aylmer: (crosstalk) . 195 00:09:15,003 --> 00:09:17,110 Alex West: ... been, because of that reason that people have built 196 00:09:17,110 --> 00:09:20,880 Alex West: something that we've wanted. Either customers or network or anything 197 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,880 Alex West: else. I think that'll continue, particularly as people either want 198 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,360 Alex West: to get out because COVID has been difficult or they 199 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,819 Alex West: see this is the easiest way to survive, in terms 200 00:09:30,820 --> 00:09:32,790 Alex West: of going forward, is become part of a much larger 201 00:09:32,790 --> 00:09:35,070 Alex West: organization. But I can't imagine it's going to go anywhere. 202 00:09:35,210 --> 00:09:38,469 Alex West: Obviously we IPO or reverse takeover last year, in a 203 00:09:38,470 --> 00:09:41,040 Alex West: period when there was that considerable amount of capital and 204 00:09:41,770 --> 00:09:44,270 Alex West: a long waiting list of ASX listings- 205 00:09:44,350 --> 00:09:44,351 Sean Aylmer: Yeah. 206 00:09:44,351 --> 00:09:46,449 Alex West: ... going on. I think it will continue. 207 00:09:47,110 --> 00:09:49,410 Sean Aylmer: Do you think your plan is to continue to grow? 208 00:09:50,210 --> 00:09:51,950 Sean Aylmer: You're a small cap at the moment. Is the goal 209 00:09:51,950 --> 00:09:54,960 Sean Aylmer: to become a large cap? Is the goal that eventually 210 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,719 Sean Aylmer: the services you offer will have to be integrated into 211 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,010 Sean Aylmer: one of the bigger players? What's the strategy there? 212 00:10:00,580 --> 00:10:03,699 Alex West: Look, we definitely see ourselves growing into a midsize, and 213 00:10:03,700 --> 00:10:06,679 Alex West: potentially sometime in the future, a large cap company. The 214 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:09,290 Alex West: idea being is, I think James, my chairman gave me 215 00:10:09,290 --> 00:10:12,709 Alex West: a target to be a one billion dollar TELCO by 2023. 216 00:10:13,059 --> 00:10:13,329 Sean Aylmer: Right. 217 00:10:14,140 --> 00:10:15,002 Alex West: We're well on our way. It was (crosstalk) . 218 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:17,400 Sean Aylmer: (crosstalk) . You're a 300 million now or thereabouts? 219 00:10:17,690 --> 00:10:20,160 Alex West: Yeah. Somewhere between, depending on the market at any one 220 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:21,890 Alex West: point in time. Somewhere between three or 400 million. 221 00:10:22,170 --> 00:10:22,410 Sean Aylmer: Right. 222 00:10:23,110 --> 00:10:25,100 Alex West: That's within six months, so if we continue on that 223 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:27,230 Alex West: trajectory, I should be there shortly. But, no I- 224 00:10:27,230 --> 00:10:29,410 Sean Aylmer: No. No pressure, Alex. No pressure. 225 00:10:30,250 --> 00:10:35,001 Alex West: No. Look. A reasonable timeframe would be in 2023 and (inaudible) 226 00:10:35,001 --> 00:10:37,380 Alex West: the end. But look, you never really know. With 227 00:10:37,380 --> 00:10:40,339 Alex West: acquisitions, I remember I once asked someone whilst I was at the Vocus, moreso than I 228 00:10:41,510 --> 00:10:43,870 Alex West: was here, at what point do we stop acquiring or 229 00:10:43,870 --> 00:10:47,630 Alex West: we are ever not looking? I think you never stop looking. You're 230 00:10:47,929 --> 00:10:50,600 Alex West: never sure what opportunities are going to come up. Investors 231 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,339 Alex West: may want to move out of an organization, and then 232 00:10:54,809 --> 00:10:57,040 Alex West: some people want to retire. All those sort of things 233 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,500 Alex West: you wouldn't necessarily have planned, but you can't be asleep 234 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,480 Alex West: and not be looking or not be ready, because there 235 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:04,849 Alex West: might be some great acquisition out there. 236 00:11:05,230 --> 00:11:07,330 Sean Aylmer: I suppose the other side of that is the actual 237 00:11:07,330 --> 00:11:10,359 Sean Aylmer: customer demand. It's not like that's going to go backwards 238 00:11:10,420 --> 00:11:13,309 Sean Aylmer: around infrastructure for broadband and TELCO services? 239 00:11:13,730 --> 00:11:17,010 Alex West: Absolutely not. I mean, we saw that over the pandemic, 240 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,030 Alex West: the demand for quality internet services or quality data services 241 00:11:20,030 --> 00:11:22,589 Alex West: was growing. We grew through the pandemic, particularly in our 242 00:11:22,590 --> 00:11:24,840 Alex West: residential space where people were working more from home. 243 00:11:25,090 --> 00:11:25,240 Sean Aylmer: Yep. 244 00:11:25,690 --> 00:11:27,839 Alex West: We just see that continuing. People are looking for good 245 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:32,059 Alex West: quality services. The internet at home became, particularly reliable internet, 246 00:11:32,059 --> 00:11:34,670 Alex West: became far more important when you move from just watching 247 00:11:34,670 --> 00:11:40,002 Alex West: Netflix, to you now conducting business meetings online with a (crosstalk) - 248 00:11:40,002 --> 00:11:40,331 Sean Aylmer: (crosstalk) Podcasts for example. 249 00:11:40,331 --> 00:11:41,851 Alex West: ... Podcasts. For example this one. Yeah. 250 00:11:41,851 --> 00:11:45,940 Sean Aylmer: Yeah. Alex, thank you very much for talking to Fear 251 00:11:45,940 --> 00:11:46,330 Sean Aylmer: and Greed. 252 00:11:46,780 --> 00:11:47,930 Alex West: No, thank you very much for having with Sean. 253 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,100 Sean Aylmer: That was Alex West, CEO of ASX listed TELCO, Swoop. 254 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:54,860 Sean Aylmer: This is a Fear and Greed Daily Interview. Join me 255 00:11:54,860 --> 00:11:57,300 Sean Aylmer: every morning for the full Fear and Greed Podcast with 256 00:11:57,300 --> 00:11:59,540 Sean Aylmer: all the business news you need to know. I'm Sean 257 00:11:59,570 --> 00:12:00,929 Sean Aylmer: Aylmer. Enjoy your day.