When a major network failure at Telstra can stall emergency calls, payments, and freight across Australia in a single day, it underlines how central resilient telecommunications infrastructure has become to everyday life and business continuity. For investors, outages like this can reshape expectations around reliability, backup capacity, and regulatory pressure. This article looks at how that shock filters through to larger companies involved in telecom infrastructure and resilience, and highlights 3 stocks from our Telecommunications Infrastructure & Resilience screener that appear positively exposed to the issues raised by the Telstra outage.

Superloop (ASX:SLC)

Overview: Superloop is an Australian telecommunications company that runs fibre networks and internet services for households, businesses, and other carriers, offering everything from home broadband and mobile plans to enterprise-grade ethernet, dark fibre, Wi-Fi, and cyber security solutions.

Operations: Superloop generates most of its A$606.6 million revenue from Consumer services at A$413.1 million, with the Business segment contributing A$106.9 million and Wholesale A$86.6 million.

Market Cap: A$1.58b

Superloop gives you direct exposure to the push for more resilient telecom infrastructure in Australia, at a time when outages at larger incumbents are putting network reliability and backup capacity under the spotlight. The company is building out fibre and smart community projects that support recurring, higher-margin revenue. Analysts expect solid earnings and revenue growth and see upside to current pricing if those expectations play out. Against that, you need to weigh a very high P/E ratio, reliance on external funding, and recent insider selling that could signal caution. With a new three year strategy coming and regulators scrutinising network resilience, the key considerations are how far Superloop can lean into this theme and how much risk you are willing to accept for that potential.

Superloop’s push into fibre and smart communities could be masking what really matters: how the business handles risk and reward as expectations build around resilience. Get the full picture in the 4 key rewards and 1 important warning sign

Harmonic (HLIT)

Overview: Harmonic is a US-based telecom equipment and software company that helps broadband and media providers deliver reliable high speed internet and streaming, using cloud-native software, specialized hardware nodes and subscription-based network services.

Operations: Harmonic generates the bulk of its revenue in the Americas at about US$352 million, with additional sales of roughly US$36 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and US$10 million in Asia Pacific.

Market Cap: US$1.51b

Harmonic sits in the middle of the push for more resilient broadband. It offers operators the cOS cloud platform and fiber and DOCSIS hardware that can help prevent the kind of disruptive outages seen at Telstra. Record broadband orders, a large deferred revenue balance and a growing mix of SaaS and recurring software give the company a way to align with multi year upgrade programs. The recent sale of its Video business adds cash to support this focus. At the same time, you need to weigh heavy reliance on a few key customers, volatile recent earnings and funding mainly backed by external borrowing. For investors who can balance those risks, Harmonic’s story around reliability and broadband upgrades is still only partly reflected in the headline numbers.

Harmonic’s broadband momentum and rising recurring software mix suggest the headline story is only half written. However, customer concentration and funding choices still raise big questions, unpacked in the 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs

Aviat Networks (AVNW)

Overview: Aviat Networks is a US-based telecom equipment company that supplies microwave and wireless access networking gear to mobile operators, utilities, public safety networks, and government agencies that need highly reliable backhaul and mission critical connectivity.

Operations: Aviat Networks generates all of its US$434.1 million revenue from the design, manufacturing and sale of wireless networking products, solutions and services, with the United States contributing US$203.2 million and Latin America and Asia Pacific a combined US$131.7 million.

Market Cap: US$272.6 million

Aviat Networks stands out in the context of the Telstra outage because its specialty is wireless transport for critical infrastructure, where redundancy and uptime matter more than headline subscriber counts. The Pasolink acquisition, new Multi-band Max product and expanded Thai manufacturing indicate a company seeking to widen its addressable market and sharpen margins, while recent deals such as the Nextlink Internet buildout highlight demand from rural broadband and fixed wireless projects. At the same time, funding entirely via external borrowing, recent quarterly losses and reliance on US Tier 1 demand and successful integrations keep execution risk high. For investors, the question is whether that mix of resilience-focused products and growth projects justifies looking past recent volatility.

Aviat Networks looks like a resilience play that the market has not fully priced in yet, sitting at the crossroads of rural broadband, mission critical backhaul and new products. If you want the key tension between its execution risks, funding choices and mission critical focus laid out in one place, start with the analysis report for Aviat Networks

The three stocks in this article are only a starting point. The full Telecommunications Infrastructure & Resilience screener surfaces 19 more companies with equally compelling stories around network reliability, cyber resilience and disaster recovery in the Telecommunications Infrastructure & Resilience screener.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.