Optus has been getting ready behind the scenes to support HTC's Android G1 phone, according to internal documents seen by ZDNet.com.au.
The G1, dubbed the Dream, was released in the US in October last year, but Australian carriers had no plans at the time to offer the in-demand phone. This has officially remained the case.
Despite Optus declining to comment on any plans for HTC's Android, however, the telco's technical support staff appear to have been busy behind the scenes.
Optus Mobile Technical Support Centre staff have been issued with the "HTC: Dream (G1) Manual". The document details how to use the phone; for example, it describes how to change languages, forward calls, set up email, disable 3G and Airplane mode or set up the internet on the phone.
Some Australians already have the G1 locally due to the device being sold through eBay; in addition, Google directly sells an unlocked version of the handset for software development purposes.
Optus declined to comment on the document. A Google Australia spokesperson said they had not seen the document and could not comment.
Since the G1 was released in the US, another Android phone has been announced, Kogan Technologies' Agora, which will ship to Australians on 29 January. Optus told ZDNet.com.au earlier this month that it had no plans to test the device.
God, I hope Optus isn't the carrier to release the first Android phone in Australia. Optus will screw it up like they screw up everything else they touch. With any luck Kogan or Telstra will beat out Optus.