Telstra has engaged on a pre-Christmas splurge, announcing the purchase of Asian telecommunications and services provider Pacnet for $US697 million ($858 million).

Pacnet is a Singapore and Hong Kong-based company that provides connectivity, data centre and other services to telecoms, large corporations and governments in the Asia-Pacific region.

Telstra said the acquisition also includes an interest in Pacnet's China joint venture PBS, which is licensed to operate a domestic internet protocol virtual private network and provide data centre services in most major Chinese provinces.

The Australian telecommunications giant said that Pacnet will give it access to more services, as well as an expanded data centre network, more submarine cables and a number of major customers around the region.

Telstra's chief executive David Thodey said that expanding into Asia is an important part of its growth strategy.

"We believe this acquisition will help us become a leading provider of enterprise services to multinational companies and carriers in the region," he noted in a statement.

"For Australian businesses, businesses across Asia and, importantly, companies looking to expand and grow in Asia, the combined entity will provide powerful new options for networks and services."

Mr Thodey explained that the acquisition would enhance Telstra's business services offering in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Pacnet increases the scale and scope of our assets which can be used as a platform for Telstra to scale and expand leading solutions such as unified cloud, unified communications, managed network services and security services," he added.

In calendar year 2013 Pacnet generated revenues of $US472 million and pre-tax earnings of $US111 million.

The company has 815 staff across 25 offices in 11 countries, and says it has Asia's largest privately-owned submarine telecommunications cable network.

Telstra shares were initially slightly higher after the announcement, but had settled back to even at $6.00 by 10:45am (AEDT), although this is still around 13-and-a-half-year highs.