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| Optus CEO Paul O'Sullivan |
Mr O'Sullivan said Optus had a general policy not to comment on market speculation.
"Having said that, we are always open to opportunities and always evaluate those opportunities as they arrive," Mr O'Sullivan said.
Singapore Telecommunications subsidiary Optus is one of many possible telcos rumoured to be looking to do a deal with Telecom NZ, with a merger more likely than an outright takeover of AAPT.
Other likely interested parties in AAPT could include SP Telemedia, Vodafone, Primus and Macquarie Bank.
Earlier this month, Telecom New Zealand reported a loss of NZ$466 million (AU$422 million) for the first half, after slashing almost $1 billion from AAPT.
Telecom wrote down its carrying value of AAPT by NZ$897 million (AU$813.75 million) to $628 million, having bought the telco in 1999 for about $2.3 billion.
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