Broadband News
Fri, 02nd Nov 2018
Optus staff told to please customers or face sack: report
The head of Australia's second biggest telecommunications company has told staff that they would be fired if they upset customers, a report claims.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 01st Nov 2018
NBN Co to cull 200 network ops roles
NBN Co is set to cut 200 roles from its network engineering and operations division before the end of the year.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiNet founder Michael Malone joins nano-satellite company
iiNet founder Michael Malone has been appointed as the chairman for Perth-headquartered satellite company Sky and Space Global, effective 1 November.
Source: ARN
Wed, 31st Oct 2018
NBN Co staff reap $42.7m in bonus payments
NBN Co’s senior executives shared $1.96 million in bonuses in the last financial year, despite a $2 billion cost blowout on the project and rollout delays.
Source: iTnews Australia
China bolsters VPN blocks ahead of major trade, internet shows
Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to block virtual private networks (VPN), service providers said on Tuesday in describing a "cat and mouse" game with censors ahead of a major trade expo and internet conference.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 30th Oct 2018
Don’t protect NBN from 5G competition: ACCC head
The head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned the government against any move to protect NBN Co’s network from the competitive pressure of emerging mobile technologies.
Source: Computerworld
5G stakes couldn't be higher so we advised Huawei ban: ASD
High-risk vendors could previously be confined to the edge of networks, but 5G changes that, the Australian Signals Directorate has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra adds 4G voice to NBN smart modem
The Telstra Smart Modem Gen 2 will provide 4G voice failover in the event of a broadband outage or a delay in migrating to NBN services.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co launches 1Gbps Enterprise Ethernet services
NBN Co has launched its flagship business product, with Australian businesses now able to order Enterprise Ethernet services delivered over the National Broadband Network.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra's new modems mean NBN outages won't kill your home phone
The Smart Modem Gen 2 will use Telstra's 4G mobile network to supply internet and phone calls in the event of an outage, at no extra cost.
Source: SMH
NBN Co open for enterprise business
NBN Co has finally launched its incursion into the enterprise market after a year spent working with “a number of service providers” honing the new wholesale product.
Source: iTnews Australia
Electronic spy agency chief says Huawei's ban to 5G network was 'supported by technical advice'
The head of Australia's most secretive electronic spy agency reveals Australia's "entire" emerging 5G mobile communications network could have been threatened.
Source: ABC News
NBN launches gigabit-speed enterprise service
Enterprise customers are now able to order a wholesale symmetrical-gigabit NBN service, with the company also continuing to work on a business-grade satellite offering.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mon, 29th Oct 2018
INDIGO cable reaches Sydney
The 4850-kilometre INDIGO Central submarine cable has landed at Coogee Beach.
Source: Computerworld
amaysim exits broadband market, sells customer base to Southern Phone
Mobile virtual network operator amaysim has sold its fixed line broadband customer base to regional telecommunications operator Southern Phone for about $3 million in a transaction expected to be completed by the end of the month.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 26th Oct 2018
Telstra wins delay for business copper migration to NBN
Telstra’s ageing copper network for business Ethernet and DSL has been granted a controversial stay of execution under planned disconnections to switch to the NBN by Australia’s competition watchdog, despite earlier protests from other telcos.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC gives business services more time to migrate to NBN
The consumer watchdog has approved several amendments to Telstra's NBN migration plan, including to account for the HFC pause and to give business services 170 days to switch over before legacy services are disconnected.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Amaysim sells fixed line broadband customer base in $3M deal
Telecommunications provider Amaysim Australia has entered into an asset sale deed to sell its fixed line broadband customer base to Southern Phone.
Source: ARN
FttH alternative needed for higher broadband speeds: NetComm exec
Rolling out fibre to the home is an expensive exercise and alternative methods need to be found to provide people with broadband that can yield speeds above 100Mbps, the marketing and communications director of NetComm, Els Baert, claims.
Source: iTWire
NBN users consume more than 200GB per month: claim
Data consumption by users of the national broadband network has risen to an average of 213GB per month, the NBN Co's chief technology officer Ray Owen claims.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 25th Oct 2018
What's New On Stan, Netflix, Hayu And Amazon For November
Another month, another collection of must-see TV shows and movies to binge on across the streaming services.
Source: Gizmodo
Finance worried TPG-Vodafone will dull 5G auction price
TPG and Vodafone’s move to jointly bid for 5G spectrum has the Finance department worried that auction prices will be dulled.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co inks strategic deal with Dell EMC
NBN Co has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Dell EMC, further entrenching itself into the channel ecosystem.
Source: ARN
Fall in complaints on services from Telstra, Optus, Vodafone: report
Complaints about services delivered by Australia’s biggest telcos Telstra, Optus and Vodafone continued to fall over the three months to the end of September, according to the latest Complaints in Context report from the Communications Alliance.
Source: iTWire
Labor terms Switkowski's $50b NBN valuation 'departure from reality'
The Australian Labor Party has questioned the value apportioned to the NBN Co by its chairman Ziggy Switkowski, who said during a Senate Estimates hearing that the company could fetch a price of $50 billion if it was sold post-2020.
Source: iTWire
Vodafone NZ goes large on tech security in Telstra deal
Vodafone has inked a deal to offer Telstra's cloud based security platform to New Zealand corporate and government customers.
Source: ARN
Wed, 24th Oct 2018
Telstra 5G tower switched on in Perth, but no one can connect to it
WA's first 5G mobile phone tower was switch on Wednesday, but you can't connect to it yet.
Source: SMH
Andy Penn on how Telstra is deploying 5G
Andy Penn explains how the telco is choosing its first 5G sites, with the Telstra CEO also outlining recent 5G and IoT trials the telco has done with Linfox and the National Farmers Federation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus runs into problems trying to share mobile towers
Optus has run into interference when trying to co-locate antennas on other operators’ towers in regional areas, an admission that is likely to reinvigorate calls for a crackdown.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co to spend $80m on DOCSIS 3.1 upgrade
NBN Co is expecting to spend around $80 million upgrading its hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network to DOCSIS 3.1, but says the costs will be “more than offset”.
Source: iTnews Australia