Australian officials were concerned about whether a Chinese company or potentially a Chinese state-owned entity might look to buy Digicel's Pacific arm," Amanda Watson, an expert in Pacific communications at the Australian National University, told the ABC at the time.

"There were some geopolitical and geostrategic concerns about a Chinese company owning a major telecommunication company in the Pacific region, which is of course so close to Australia."

The sensitivities have parallels with the treatment of Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei.
That company was banned from involvement in the National Broadband Network (NBN), a ban maintained even after the government changed in 2013.
Five years later, Huawei was banned from taking part in the rollout of 5G mobile infrastructure, on national security concerns.

Digicel Pacific uses a 4,700km undersea cable from Sydney, largely funded by the Australian government in 2018 in an effort to prevent PNG and the Solomon Islands from using Huawei for the project.
But when the deal went through in late October, Mr Tehan brushed off questions about the influence of China on the decision.

"The thing that was in the forefront of the government's mind is that we continue to see quality investment in the Pacific. That's what drove the government's decision making," he told the ABC

In an announcement to the stock exchange on October 25, Telstra revealed it contributed just $US270 million (nearly $AU380 million) to the $US1.6 billion ($AU2.24 billion) total purchase price but will own 100 per cent of the company's ordinary equity.
The federal government's Export Finance Australia agency stumped up the remaining $US1.33 billion through cheap non-recourse loans and "equity-like securities", leaving Telstra with minimal commercial risk.