Broadband News
Thu, 29th Jan 2015
Top cop's claims cast shadow over data-retention plan
As Australian lawmakers debate legislation forcing telcos to retain customers' metadata for a minimum of two years, NSW Police deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas has claimed that he and others have been the target of inappropriately warranted electronic surveillance by his own force.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra refuses to disclose cost of data retention
Australia’s largest telco Telstra has refused to disclose how much it expects the Government’s data retention scheme will cost to implement, claiming the figure as commercial-in-confidence.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 28th Jan 2015
Data retention: Two years too long to keep IP addresses, says Vodafone
Telecommunications providers shouldn't be forced to retain the IP addresses assigned to their customers for 24 months, Vodafone has argued.
Source: Computerworld
Warnings Australian spy agency won't delete retained data
The inspector-general of Intelligence and Security has warned that Australia's top spy agency is under no obligation to delete data it receives under mandatory data-retention legislation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Turnbull ticks Telstra-NBN HFC migration plan
NBN Co will be required to provide rollout information to all retailers in a bid to prevent Telstra from gaining a competitive advantage as the NBN begins taking over the company's HFC network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 27th Jan 2015
Singtel-Optus chief pledges to break Telstra's stronghold
SingTel-Optus' new chief executive Allen Lew has pledged to break Telstra's mobile service dominance and build the nation's leading network in a move that could trigger a multibillion-dollar construction arms race between the telco giants.
Source: SMH
How a shock jock got pranksters fired using metadata
The case for mandatory data retention is that the data is crucial for averting terrorism or big crimes -- but sometimes its use is a little more questionable.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Presto turns on TV for Android tablet users
Select Android tablets, mostly from Samsung but also the Nexus 7, now join the iPad, Chromecast, PCs and Macs in being able to watch Presto’s TV programming, but still no Android smartphones, iPhones, smart TVs or games consoles as with Netflix - yet.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 23rd Jan 2015
Ambiguity leaves AIIA questioning data-retention legislation
The peak national body representing companies including Apple, Google, Telstra, and Optus has said that the Australian government's draft data-retention legislation is too ambiguous.
Source: ZDNet Australia
IPv4 exhaustion stunts Internet growth in 2014
Expansion of the Internet slowed in 2014 as the number of available IPv4 addresses neared exhaustion, according to a report by the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), the regional Internet registry for the Asia Pacific.
Source: Computerworld
Aussie study aims to capture true value of public wi-fi
RMIT senior research fellow Dr Ian McShane expects Australia to experience a resurgence in community-based telecommunications as the ambitions of the national broadband network are gradually scaled back.
Source: iTnews Australia
Data retention: Telstra predicts metadata will surface in lawsuits
Telstra is expecting the metadata telcos will be forced to collect under the government's mandatory data retention scheme will be used in civil litigation, raising the possibility of it being used in cases such as copyright infringement lawsuits or family law disputes.
Source: Computerworld
Thu, 22nd Jan 2015
Optus, Telstra urge Govt to commit to paying cost of data retention
Australia's two largest telcos have called on the Government to make a substantial contribution to the cost of implementing its planned data retention regime, while raising concerns about the ambigious dataset contained within the Coalition's draft bill.
Source: iTnews Australia
The NBN you'll get is not the one you voted for
Freed from competition by a single-minded government, NBN Co is free to cherry pick to its heart's content, drip feeding its fibre-to-the-basement services to Australia's wealthiest areas. Yet, with so many concessions made to Telstra and so much about the NBN still up in the air, there is still more lost than gained.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internet not yet killing free-to-air television: Deloitte
Video might have killed the radio star according to the pop hit from the 1980s, but the internet has not yet killed free-to-air television.
Source: ABC News
Wed, 21st Jan 2015
How Netflix wants to end geoblocking
Netflix is negotiating its content deals now in a way that will mean people outside of the US will no longer need to use VPNs to access the shows and films they want to watch.
Source: ZDNet Australia
New Optus prepaid offer for more data and talk time
Optus is striking back at prepaid competitors with added data and talk time, but is it enough?
Source: iTWire
Vodafone’s new 4G Wi-Fi Cube connects up to 32 devices
With the ‘average home’ having eight connected devices, Vodafone’s new 4G Wi-Fi Cube can connect 32 devices, but wireless data is still more costly than wired.
Source: iTWire
Netflix ready for Aust, NZ market battle
US internet television network Netflix says it is ready to fight for Australian and New Zealand viewers in what it describes as highly competitive markets.
Source: Computerworld
Tue, 20th Jan 2015
Optus extends 4G Plus to its entire network
The 4G wars continue. Optus is making a big deal of its ‘4G Plus’ technology, which is now available across its entire Australian network.
Source: iTWire
Telstra tests solar fuel cell for backup power
Telstra is trialling the use of hydrogen-based backup power to keep exchange sites up and running in the event of a mains power outage.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus, iiNet concerned at 'relaxed' NBN infosec rules
Optus and iiNet have voiced concerns that hard-fought rules on how Telstra handles confidential information it receives in the course of migrating users onto the NBN are about to be "relaxed".
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 19th Jan 2015
NBN Co begins fibre-to-the-basement rollout
Approximately 6,000 premises in Sydney, Melbourne, and the ACT will be the first to be connected to the NBN via fibre to the basement.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra to sell 100G service on subsea cables
Telstra will offer 100 gigabit per second connectivity on several subsea cables to meet the need for increased international capacity, particularly the large amounts of bandwidth required for high definition video and ultra-high definition (UHD) television.
Source: iTnews Australia
Alan Jones will be among the first 6000 to be able to benefit from FTTB rollout
Radio personality Alan Jones will be one of the lucky 6000 users across 43 apartment buildings to be the first to be able to join the national broadband network's fibre-to-the-basement (FTTB) rollout by the middle of 2015.
Source: SMH
Thu, 15th Jan 2015
How NBN Co will determine what connection you get
NBN Co is beginning to work out the exact process of how it will determine which technology in the 'multi-technology mix' will connect each premises across Australia.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 14th Jan 2015
Telstra power outage downs BigPond services
A power outage at one of Telstra's data centres shuttered internet services to BigPond customers for up to four hours this morning.
Source: iTnews Australia
Darwin CBD to switch from copper phone lines to optic fibre NBN
More than 700 households and businesses in Darwin are told they need to switch to the National Broadband Network or lose their internet service, but some users of the network say it is no better than their old service.
Source: ABC News
Telstra Bigpond users reporting wide internet outage
Telstra Bigpond customers from across the country have flooded Facebook and Twitter this morning to report an internet service outage, with some saying they've been waiting on hold with customer service for hours.
Source: SMH
Queensland Optus mobile phones change to daylight saving time
Queensland Optus customers had a rude shock on Wednesday morning after their mobile phones clicked over to daylight saving time.
Source: Brisbane Times