Macquarie and Blacktree partner on defence colocation services
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Macquarie and Blacktree partner on defence colocation services

Aidan Tudehope - Macquarie Government 16.9.png

Macquarie Telecom Group is partnering with Blacktree Technology to deliver defence-ready data co-location services.

As a provider of satellite communications in Australia, Blacktree Technology provides communication systems for military and commercial customers. In order to accommodate the growth of its business, Blacktree is transitioning its internal systems to a certified commercial data centre

“Security, sovereign ownership and sovereign control over data are causes paramount to both Blacktree as a commercial organisation and in support of our customers’ goals and business objectives,” said Joe Nevin, managing director of Blacktree Technology.

“The recent passing of the Critical Infrastructure Bill, under which defence is listed as a critical sector requiring mandatory reporting when a cyber-attack occurs, demonstrates the need for swift and decisive measures to protect the sector and manage internal risk.

“The Macquarie solution has exceeded our requirements to draw on a resilient sovereign capability that we can use as a base for building our systems that support both the management of sensitive information and the growth of the Blacktree business systems.”

Macquarie Telecom Group was selected to host Blacktree Technology’s equipment in its Canberra data centre Intellicentre 5 (IC5), due to its Zone 4 credentials, which is a requirement for defence, as well as its ability to be extended to Zone 5 capability.

It was also selected due to the location of its data centre in Canberra, which is within close proximity to personnel who will be accessing the information.

“This latest deal with Blacktree Technology is another way we’re putting Macquarie’s defence-ready capabilities into practice. Last year our organisation passed the 200-mark for government-cleared security staff, a milestone which constitutes a doubling of our security staff in less than one year," said Aidan Tudehope (pictured), managing director of Macquarie Government.

“We see it as our responsibility to invest in the sovereign skills and security clearances needed to provide the Commonwealth and key Defence partners such as Blacktree with the level of capability required to support defence.”

revenues of $149.3 million, an increase of 4% on H1 FY21 which totalled $143.4 million.

“This result represents our fifteenth consecutive half of EBITDA growth, an outstanding achievement made possible by our committed teams, our strategy and ongoing investments across all of our business units,” said Peter James, chairman at Macquarie.

Net profit came in at $3.7 million, a decrease of 48% on H1 FY21 reaching $7 million. This is due to the increase in depreciation & amortisation flowing from increased levels of capital expenditure.

Capital expenditure topped $68.9 million and EBITDA of $40.5 million.

“Strong demand for cyber security, private and public cloud has driven our investment in our Government and Cloud Services businesses," said David Tudehope, chief executive at Macquarie Telecom.

"Continued demand from our Federal Government Agencies for cybersecurity and secure cloud, including Tier 1 Agencies such as ATO, gives high confidence for future growth in the Government Business."

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