OPTUS Communications has snared a healthy 14 per cent of the 6 million telephone lines which have been contested under the national ballot, although its performance has waned since early successes in the major capital cities.

Figures released by industry regulator, Austel, reveal Optus has won 837,408 of the 6,072,329 lines contested, since the ballot kicked-off in Canberra in July 1993.