Broadband News
Wed, 04th Mar 2015
Australia's online retail sales slow to AU$16.6b year on year
Unlike last December, when the total Australian online retail sales index reached 11.9 percent year on year, the total online retail sales index for January 2015 was more subdued, due to a slowdown in domestic sales.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co fibre-on-demand product due this month
By the end of March, NBN Co will launch its fibre co-contribution and fibre-on-demand products, Senator Mitch Fifield has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Abbott wants data-retention law passed this week
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants the government's proposed mandatory data-retention scheme passed into law this week.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Data retention: 'A couple of issues which do require more work' says Shorten
Labor leader Bill Shorten today told journalists there were some issues with the government's proposed data retention legislation but none of them "are too hard to work out".
Source: Computerworld
European group wants 5G to be 100x faster than 4G
5G should go 100 times faster than 4G, connect 1,000 times as many devices and carry 1,000 times as much traffic in a given area, a European Commission group says.
Source: ARN
Telstra leads tech advances by taking risk: Thodey
Telstra CEO David Thodey has said the incumbent has maintained its leadership position in mobile technology advances through risk-taking, and putting its investments on the line.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus to release own brand ‘Cash by Optus’ smartphone
Optus has used the Mobile World Congress to announce a planned extension to its Cash by Optus mobile payments system which includes a credit card on a smartphone.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 03rd Mar 2015
Telstra resells Presto, unmeters it on Telstra/Foxtel fixed broadband
Hey Presto, just like that, Telstra has become a Presto reseller in a move which comes as no surprise given Telstra’s 50% ownership of Presto’s parent, Foxtel.
Source: iTWire
iiNet flicks broadband quotas with quota-free Netflix
iiNet meets Netflix to flick off pesky broadband usage quotas from day one of Netflix’s Australia/NZ launch on 24 March 2015.
Source: iTWire
Govt to adopt all changes to data retention bill
A national data retention scheme is expected to be passed into law after the federal government announced it would adopt all the recommendations made for the bill by a joint Liberal and Labor committee.
Source: iTnews Australia
Data retention: Government agrees to detail data set in legislation
The government has agreed to set out in its data retention bill exactly what customer data telecommunications carriers and Internet service providers will need to store.
Source: Computerworld
iiNet hit with $204,000 ACCC fine
The nation’s largest independent ISP, iiNet, has been forced to pay $204,000 to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for its advertising of its naked broadband plans.
Source: ARN
Netflix switches on Australia 24 March
Long awaited online video service, Netflix will finally be available in Australia and New Zealand this month. The popular online service will begin streaming in ANZ on 24 March, the company announced today.
Source: iTWire
NBN completes 3.5 GHz wireless trial
NBN Co, Ericsson and NetComm have completed a trial of 3.5 GHz wireless radio coverage and fixed-wireless service performance.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 02nd Mar 2015
Quickflix losses deepen as Netflix Australia launch looms
Quickflix has reported deepening losses, with a first-half net loss of AU$8.6 million for the six months ending December 2014, as the launch date for Netflix Australia closes in.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus records 480 Mbps download speeds to single user device
Optus has achieved download speeds of 480 megabits per second (Mbps) to a single user device.
Source: ARN
Australians harass George Brandis as the true cost of metadata retention is revealed
The true cost of the Abbott government's new metadata retention laws has been revealed, with the government quietly publishing the estimated price tag without announcing it.
Source: SMH
Telstra, Ericsson to partner on 5G
Telstra will partner with its long-term equipment supplier Ericsson to define 5G technology in an effort to launch the network for commercial use in 2020.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra unveils ambitious timetable for rollout of VoLTE, 5G
Telstra has announced an ambitious timetable to roll out new-age technologies that offer blisteringly fast broadband over wireless and in-built video calling as part of call services.
Source: The Australian
Fri, 27th Feb 2015
Still time to speak up about data retention bill, Internet Society says
The Internet Society of Australia has warned that the rush to implement a data retention regime could potentially damage Australia's economy.
Source: Computerworld
Labor backs controversial data retention bill
The Abbott Government's plan to force internet service and telecommunications providers to store the metadata of their customers for two years looks likely to pass into law after the Labor opposition put its support behind the scheme.
Source: iTnews Australia
Labor set to back data retention regime
The government's controversial data retention legislation will be debated in parliament next week, with Labor reportedly set to back the scheme to force telecommunications providers to keep customer data for 24 months.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co out to tame troublesome copper
Making sure faults in the legacy copper network are kept to a minimum and speeds are delivered as promised will be a top priority for the next phase of the NBN rollout.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 26th Feb 2015
Scentre teams with Optus for Westfield's 21 centre Wi-Fi rollout
Free Wi-Fi could be coming to a Westfield shopping centre near you.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co CEO bullish on network's progress
NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow this morning said he was "incredibly excited" by the government-owned company's half-year results.
Source: Computerworld
Choice campaigns against 'Hollywood horror film' copyright code
Advocacy group Choice has launched a campaign to push for more protections for consumers in the impending copyright enforcement code for Internet service providers.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co losses climb as rollout steps up
NBN Co's financial losses are climbing as the network builder ramps up the speed at which it connects premises to the national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co talks up potential of HFC, wireless
NBN Co has talked up a planned increase to the maximum speed offered on the fixed wireless component of the National Broadband Network and the potential of the company's HFC network to hit gigabit speeds.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co triples revenue, boosts run rate
NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow has said that the company is on target to meet its full-year goal of having over 1 million Australian premises able to connect to the National Broadband Network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Choice slams ‘medieval’ anti-piracy scheme
Consumer group Choice is calling on consumers to help educate Malcolm Turnbull.
Source: iTWire