Broadband News
Fri, 13th Mar 2015
NBN Co confirms gigabit tech upgrade for HFC
NBN Co has confirmed it will roll out the DOCSIS 3.1 standard for the Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) cable broadband networks it is acquiring from Telstra and Optus.
Source: Computerworld
TPG to buy iiNet for $1.4 billion
TPG is set to acquire iiNet for about $1.4 billion. iiNet chairman, Michael Smith, said the board viewed it as a significant reward for shareholders who have shown their faith in iiNet.
Source: ARN
Thu, 12th Mar 2015
NBN Co reveals costs for users to switch to fibre
NBN Co will allow users to choose the type of technology to be rolled out to their home or community, for a price.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co to trial HFC in Queensland and New South Wales
NBN Co has named four suburbs in Queensland and New South Wales that will be the first to trial the company's hybrid fibre-coaxial networks.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co to test hooking up more premises to HFC
NBN Co will undertake construction trials in NSW and Queensland to test hooking up to the NBN homes that sit within the footprint of Optus's and Telstra's Hybrid Fibre Coaxial networks but do not currently have HFC connections.
Source: Computerworld
Vodafone completes carrier aggregation across 4G metro network
Vodafone has completed its deployment of a 850-1800 MHz carrier aggregation across its 4G metropolitan network.
Source: ARN
NBN Co launches construction trials to speed up rollout
NBN Co is set to conduct construction trials designed to speed up the rollout of the National Broadband Network.
Source: ARN
Optus and Netflix versus Telstra and Presto
Netflix’s entry to the Australian market is seeing the battle lines drawn against Telstra, which owns half of Presto. Telstra’s rivals, who are lining up with Netflix.
Source: iTWire
TPG offers $45 monthly wholesale FTTB package
TPG has opened wholesale access to its fibre-to-the-basement network for $45 a month in a bid to meet a new carrier license condition imposed by the Government on would-be NBN competitors.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 11th Mar 2015
Turnbull argues government should be run like NBN
'With the NBN, the first thing we threw out was ideology, lies, and spin': Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has argued that the Australian government should engage with the public in the same way he has around the National Broadband Network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra set to lose fight for 7 percent wholesale price hike
Telstra is likely to lose its push for a 7 percent increase to fees it charges wholesale partners to access its fixed-line copper network, and may instead be forced to drop its charges by 12 percent in real terms over the next four years.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC rejects Telstra push for wholesale broadband price hike
In a draft decision the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has rejected Telstra's push to increase the prices it charges other telcos that deliver services over its copper network.
Source: Computerworld
Optus unveils Netflix streaming deal
Optus has inked a deal with US streaming giant Netflix to provide customers with six months free access to the service - providing they are either new or re-contracting customers.
Source: ARN
Service providers to pay 12 less to access Telstra copper: ACCC
Telco operators are set to pay 12 per cent less to access the Telstra copper network after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued its draft decision on prices to promote competition in the transition to the NBN.
Source: ARN
Tue, 10th Mar 2015
Turnbull slowing down the NBN? Not so fast
When NBN Co changed its metric to measure brownfields passed last year, the waters were muddied because it was not possible to equate apples with apples.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mon, 09th Mar 2015
Telstra wi-fi put to the test by over 700k users
More than 700,000 individuals have taken part in Telstra’s $100 million public wi-fi network trial since its launch in November, the carrier has revealed.
Source: iTnews Australia
Boost Mobile enters the Age of Ultra: 31 March 2015
Boost is replacing its $10 and $20 UNLTD plans with a $20 ULTRA plan, with good news promised soon for the $40 UNLTD plan too.
Source: iTWire
Telstra to provide metadata to customers – for a price
Telstra has announced it will make available some of the metadata it keeps on its customers.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 06th Mar 2015
MWC: 5G in 2020, and the rise of the machines
While 4G was about offering increased capacity and speeds for data-hungry users, vendors, telcos, and regulators are working to ensure that 5G is all about coping with the rise of connected machines.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACCC: comms prices fell 2.7% in 2013-14, consumers benefit
The average real prices of landline and mobile voice calls have fallen by around 50% since 1997-98, comms prices were down 2.7% in 2013-14.
Source: iTWire
Telstra offers customers access to metadata for $25
Telstra will allow its customers to access the metadata the telco stores on them for a fee ranging upwards from $25.
Source: iTnews Australia
Cost of telco services falls while NBN plan prices rise
The price of mobile, broadband and fixed-line voice services is continuing to decline in Australia, while the cost of plans for the national broadband network increases, the competition regulator has revealed.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra to allow customers to access their own metadata
Australia's largest telco will allow its customers to access the metadata they generate. Telstra said this morning that its customers will get the same access to their personal data that law enforcement organisations could request from the telco.
Source: Computerworld
Google to become Australia’s next cut price mobile data player?
Search giant Google shook up the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona this week when the company officially confirmed that it intends to sell mobile data plans in the US. The question is whether Google will join other MVNOs, such as Boost, Amaysim and Aldi, and sell cut price mobile plans in Australia.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 05th Mar 2015
Journalist metadata could get special treatment
Law enforcement agencies may be required to treat journalists’ metadata with special care under the federal government’s controversial data retention scheme.
Source: iTnews Australia
Calls for independent oversight of Australia's website blocking laws
The parliamentary committee inquiring into the laws allowing Australian government agencies to block websites has received calls for an independent party to oversee the scheme.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Govt report pins Australia's future on technology, but ignores NBN
Technology and innovation will be at the centre of Australia's continued productivity over the next 40 years, according to the Treasury Department's latest Intergenerational Report.
Source: ZDNet Australia
5G talk heats up, but launch still far off
The 5G hype machine hit a fever pitch this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but wireless services based on the still-to-be-formalised wireless standard are not expected to launch in any markets until 2020 at the earliest.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra joins 4G broadcast group
Telstra is one of the few vendors to join a new group of telco vendors, mobile operators, content providers and device manufacturers to share best practices in LTE Broadcast.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 04th Mar 2015
Bipartisan support sees Senate pass online anti-bullying laws
The Australian government's proposed legislation to establish a children's e-safety commissioner in a bid to help combat online bullying has passed the Senate.
Source: ZDNet Australia