Broadband News
Mon, 26th Nov 2018
NBN Co signs strategic deal with Cisco
NBN Co has announced a new strategic deal with networking giant Cisco focused on joint education and engagement activities targeted at Australian SMBs.
Source: ARN
Fri, 23rd Nov 2018
NBN supplier Tandem at centre of $400m class action vows to defend case
Tandem, the telecommunications contracting company and NBN supplier targeted by a $400 million class action launched by Shine Lawyers, has vowed to defend the case saying it is “extremely confident” about the legality of its subcontracting arrangements.
Source: iTnews Australia
$400m sham contracting class action rocks NBN supplier, telco sector
Australia’s telecommunications sector has been left reeling by a bombshell potential $400 million class action launched by the Australian arm of Erin Brokovich’s Shine Lawyers against alleged sham contracting arrangements at communications services heavyweight Tandem, formerly known as Infrastructure Services Group Management (IGSM).
Source: iTnews Australia
Small NBN providers cannot compete on price: claim
Small NBN retail service providers will have to compete on quality of service, not price, if they want to stay in business, given the way the industry is structured, the head of a small ISP claims.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 22nd Nov 2018
ACCC wants to expand NBN speed guidance to fixed-wireless
The ACCC is consulting on a proposal to extend its NBN speed guidance to fixed-wireless services so that consumers are notified of how cell congestion, line of sight, and distance from towers could impact their service.
Source: ZDNet Australia
New anti-pirate laws may block VPNs, Pinterest warns telco group
A group representing the telecommunications industry has warned that the government’s proposed expansion of Australia’s anti-piracy site-blocking laws could lead to “overblocking” and potentially limit access to virtual private networks (VPNs) and other legitimate online services.
Source: Computerworld
Victims of 'sham contracting' launch one of the biggest class actions in Australia
Allegations of sham contracting are at the centre of an "unprecedented" class action involving thousands of subcontractors working for ISGM, a workforce management company which supplies staff for Telstra, Foxtel and NBN Co.
Source: ABC News
Wed, 21st Nov 2018
NBN fixed wireless issues should be disclosed upfront, says ACCC
Fixed wireless NBN providers will soon have to supply more detailed information about connection speeds and known congestion issues in a cell before a customer signs up to receive a service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Push for telcos to disclose more information about NBN fixed wireless speeds
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission plans to revamp the guidelines for making broadband speed claims that it produces for NBN retail service providers (RSPs), with the ACCC seeking to make it easier for end users to understand the likely performance of fixed wireless connections.
Source: Computerworld
Only fibre can meet our needs into the future, says ISP chief
A full-fibre national broadband network would have cost much more, possibly as much as an extra $40 billion, but it will have to be built some time as it is the only technology that can do the heavy lifting Australia will need into the future, the head of a small ISP claims.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 20th Nov 2018
How China diverts, then spies on Australia's internet traffic
For six days last year, China Telecom appears to have deliberately diverted Australian internet traffic to China and logged as a routing error.
Source: SMH
NBN provider Mungi goes into administration
Melbourne-based unlimited NBN retail service provider Mungi has gone into voluntary administration just a year after it was created.
Source: iTnews Australia
Piracy crackdown: Rights holders come out swinging for bill targeting search engines
Groups representing copyright holders and one of the entertainment companies that has spearheaded use of an existing anti-piracy law have strongly backed proposed changes to Australia’s site-blocking regime.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co urged to move into Layer 3
NBN Co is being encouraged by a parliamentary committee to move beyond Layer 2 services on both the satellite and fixed wireless portions of its network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Inquiry calls for changes to government’s ‘NBN tax’
A parliamentary inquiry into the roll out of the National Broadband Network in regional and rural areas has called on the government to update the modelling used to underpin a levy scheme that has been dubbed an ‘NBN tax’.
Source: ARN
Labor says fixed-wireless service congestion cause for concern
The Australian Labor Party has expressed concern over the state of the fixed-wireless service offered by the NBN Co and identified in the second report of the Joint Standing Committee on the NBN as likely to be due to congestion.
Source: iTWire
House NBN panel asks govt to change regional broadband levy
The Australian Parliament's Joint Standing Committee into the NBN has recommended that the government update the modelling of its proposed regional broadband levy, in order to reflect the cost increases since the original modelling in 2015.
Source: iTWire
Labor accuses govt of avoiding 'inconvenient metrics' in NBN Co results
The Australian Labor Party has, predictably, slammed the Federal Government for avoiding any mention of what it calls "inconvenient metrics" in the NBN Co's first-quarter results which were announced on Monday.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 19th Nov 2018
NBN satellite business plan 'a matter of urgency': Joint committee
NBN should introduce its business-grade satellite project, address fixed-wireless congestion, and update its regional broadband levy amounts before passing legislation, the joint standing committee has recommended.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN not worried about 5G competition, completes own 5G tests
NBN has reported revenue up 50 percent to AU$620 million for the first quarter of FY19, alongside a 65 percent improvement in earnings.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Digital Lifecycle Group's CDRU joins NBN channel program
Digital Lifecycle Group's subsidiary CDRU has become the latest advisory firm to join the NBN Co's channel program as the network begins its national migration.
Source: ARN
CDRU gets NBN independent advisor accreditation
Telecommunications consultant Costs Down Revenue Up (CDRU), a subsidiary of the Digital Lifecycle Group (DLG), has announced it has become one of the first advisory groups in Australia to be accredited as part of the NBN Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Channel Program.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co looks to business purse for half of ARPU uplift
NBN Co is hoping its growing focus on the business market will contribute “around half” of the overall average revenue per user (ARPU) uplift it is targeting by 2022.
Source: iTnews Australia
Waiting for NBN good news is like waiting for Godot
Poor Stephen Rue. Having been handed the equivalent of a shit sandwich by his illustrious predecessor Bill Morrow, all that the new chief executive of NBN Co can is to pony up when the company's quarterly results are due and go through the motions.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co ARPU still stuck as losses continue to mount
The NBN Co, the company rolling out Australia's national broadband network, has made no progress on raising the average revenue per user, which remains stuck on $44, the same as that recorded for full-year 2018, even though other metrics have shown an increase.
Source: iTWire
No need to keep encryption-busting capabilities secret: Internet Australia
Smart criminals will avoid using systems with the ability to be tapped, Internet Australia chair Dr Paul Brooks has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 16th Nov 2018
New horizons open up for NBN Co’s Sky Muster satellite service
Changes to how NBN Co operates its satellite service will open up new possibilities for the company to manage traffic as demand continues to grow for connectivity in regional Australia.
Source: Computerworld
Labor says 'mish-mash of recommendations' will not help telco consumers
The Australian Labor Party says Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has finally dumped his original plan to abolish the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman after the government put forward a list of recommendations that it said would strengthen the role of the TIO.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 15th Nov 2018
Telstra BGP routing error hits other Australian ISPs
Australia's biggest telco Telstra took down part of the Internet in the country on Thursday morning due to a stuff-up with the routes it advertised through the border gateway protocol.
Source: iTWire
Govt to pressure telcos to host call centres onshore
Australian internet providers and telcos are set to be “encouraged” by the government to set up onshore call centres to handle escalated complaints.
Source: iTnews Australia