Broadband News
Wed, 10th Oct 2018
Govt puts another 232 encryption bill submissions online
A day after Internet Australia called on the Department of Home Affairs to publish more of the submissions to the Federal Government's encryption bill, an additional 232 submissions have been placed on the department's website, bringing the total to 343 at the time of writing (7.50am AEST Wednesday).
Source: iTWire
Comms Minister Fifield flags interest in GDPR-like laws
Australia’s Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has suggested the government is open to a raft of new internet regulations.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 09th Oct 2018
ALP calls for crypto law debate to slow, for years if needed
Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has called for extensive industry and public consultation over Australia’s Assistance and Access Bill, the proposed law that would compel service providers to allow law enforcement authorities to access encrypted messages, even if it takes years to settle the matter.
Source: iTnews Australia
Economics now the 'main game' for NBN: Rowland
Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has said it would be 'sensible' for both major political parties to reach a common ground on the next steps for the NBN rollout.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus leverages NBN for regional mobile network expansion
Optus has collocated on an additional three NBN fixed-wireless sites in coastal NSW to expand its 4G network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus switches on new mobile tower in Tathra
Singtel Optus has switched on a new mobile tower in Tathra, on the Sapphire Coast in NSW, giving residents 4G mobile coverage.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co says less than 4 per cent of fixed wireless cells congested
Less than 4 per cent of NBN Co’s fixed wireless cells are suffering from congestion, according to the company’s CEO, Stephen Rue.
Source: Computerworld
Scaling up FTTC to be NBN Co’s next big challenge, CEO says
NBN Co CEO Stephen Rue says that scaling up the roll out of fibre to the curb (FTTC) is “perhaps the biggest challenge” faced by the network wholesaler over the next couple of years.
Source: Computerworld
Internet Australia asks Dutton to consult widely on encryption bill
Internet Australia, a not-for-profit that claims to represent Internet users in the country, has urged Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to intervene in what it characterises as "the inadequate consultation process" over the encryption bill that was presented to Parliament last month.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 08th Oct 2018
Gold Coast details fibre and Wi-Fi network expansion plans
New tender documents have shown details for the city's plans to expand its fibre broadband and Wi-Fi networks across the Gold Coast, with three loops to be complete over the next three financial years.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Singtel and Optus announce esports content push
Singtel and Optus will partner with the gaming industry and other regional Singtel subsidiary telcos on original content creation and the broadcast of esports across Australia, Asia, and India.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACMA finds Telstra failed to help customers with life-threatening medical conditions
The ACMA has said it is 'deeply concerned' about Telstra's non-compliance with its priority assistance obligations, with two customers passing away in 2017 after being unable to use their landline service.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra may cut mobile prices to keep market share: report
Telstra may reduce the prices for its mobile plans so that it keeps its existing share of the market as competition grows, a report claims.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 05th Oct 2018
Western Tasmania gains fibre broadband under NBN tech choice program
The government has finally made good on an election promise to provide fixed-line and fixed-wireless NBN connections instead of satellite to the West Coast of Tasmania.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Taxpayers foot $2,800 home internet bill for Federal Assistant Treasurer
Prime Minister Scott Morrison orders an investigation into why his Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert has been slugging taxpayers up to $2,800 a month for his home internet bills on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Source: ABC News
Plan change mysteriously solves South Australian's NBN HFC issues
The Internet problems plaguing a resident of South Australia who has an NBN connection via HFC have suddenly disappeared, though neither the NBN Co nor his retail service provider are able to cast light on how it was resolved.
Source: iTWire
Telstra wins $8.2M Govt contract for the landing of the Coral Sea Cable System
Telstra has won a $8.2 million contract with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for the landing of the Coral Sea Cable System.
Source: ARN
Tassie ISP sees NBN Co move pushing up prices
The NBN Co has issued a blog post warning that congestion on the broadband network may "fluctuate" as it forces providers to choose between the original pricing and the new "bundled" pricing system.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 04th Oct 2018
Aussie Broadband sets $55 floor for NBN internet charges
Aussie Broadband will stop offering sub-$55 a month NBN internet plans from next month as it transitions customers over to NBN Co’s permanent bundled pricing.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co warns of potential network congestion as discounts end
NBN Co says it expects congestion levels for National Broadband Network services to fluctuate as retail service providers (RSPs) shift to the wholesaler’s bundled products, which it launched earlier this year, and as a promotional discount scheme winds up.
Source: Computerworld
Wi-Fi Alliance dumps 802.11 naming in favour of version numbers
802.11ax is Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ac becomes Wi-Fi 5, and Wi-Fi 4 was 802.11n.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vocus against Telstra plan for copper migration delay
Vocus has come out against a proposal by Telstra to delay the disconnection of business Ethernet and DSL users from their existing services over the summer.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co warns users about rising congestion
NBN Co has finally confirmed that congestion on its network will “fluctuate” - or increase - when it removes a temporary price offer at the end of this month.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 03rd Oct 2018
100Mbps fixed wireless: NBN Co forecast fewer than 6000 users
NBN Co says that its forecasts showed that only around 5600 households and businesses would take advantage of its planned but now cancelled 100/400 megabits per second fixed wireless service.
Source: Computerworld
NBN: 1,500 fixed-wireless users download over 1TB in a month
NBN had forecast just 1.4 percent of fixed-wireless users to take up its 100Mbps service, with the company also pointing the finger at more than 1,500 'extreme' users who individually downloaded more than 1TB during May.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Aussie Broadband chief scores a PR coup by detailing outage
The head of small Australian ISP, Aussie Broadband, has taken the unusual step of telling his customers the intricate details of an outage that occurred over the recent weekend, in sharp contrast to other companies that try to paper over such incidents with bizspeak.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 02nd Oct 2018
Aussie Broadband properly explains broadband outage to customers
Bucking the trend of remaining tight lipped in the face of network issues, Aussie Broadband reached out to customers during an outage of its NBN services over the weekend, explaining the cause, effect, and fix.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra delivers 500th mobile black spot base station, 100 million calls and 5000TB of data
Telstra is making it easy for its customers in former black spot areas to make calls, with over 100 million made from those locations, so Chuckie's cry of "why didn't you call" can't be because you didn't have mobile service.
Source: iTWire
Vocus confirms Sea-Me-We3 back online
The break that knocked the Sea-Me-We3 (SMW3) cable system offline has been repaired, according to Vocus.
Source: Computerworld
Mon, 01st Oct 2018
AFL and NRL Grand Final stadium spectators generated combined 5.7TB of data, 21% more than 2017
Fans attending the AFL Grand Final and NRL Grand Final on the weekend generated a combined 5.7 terabytes of data on the Telstra Mobile Network, a whopping 21% more than last year.
Source: iTWire