Broadband News
Thu, 15th Nov 2018
CA welcomes telco safeguards review but sounds note of caution on TIO
Telecommunications industry lobby group, Communications Alliance, has welcomed the Australian Government’s decision to “retain” the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) as part of the strengthening of safeguards for telco consumers – but cautioned against Government recommendations that could threaten the TIO’s independence.
Source: iTWire
Government looks to further boost telco consumer protections
The Australian Government has made recommendations for further protections for telco consumers, including a strengthening of role of the Telecommunications Ombudsman.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 14th Nov 2018
Greens propose $250m NBN migration assistance fund
The Australian Greens have called for a $250 million “NBN migration program” established to assist a greater number of people to take up services on the network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Greens flag AU$1.5 billion NBN policy, Aussie GDPR, data retention repeal
The Greens party wants to invest AU$1.5 billion to make the NBN more equitable, AU$100 million in video game development, and AU$63 million in digital inclusiveness, as well as repealing data retention and setting up a Digital Rights Commissioner and GDPR-esque laws.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACMA: 41 telcos failed NBN complaints process audit
The ACMA kicked off an audit of compliance with its new NBN complaints-handling process rules, finding that all 41 telcos investigated were in breach of the standard.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus boosts investment in SA network by another $23.6 million
Australia’s second largest telco Optus is investing a further $23.6 million into its South Australian network, building more than 40 new sites by the end of March next year in a move aimned at improving network coverage and to deliver faster download speeds for customers.
Source: iTWire
Telcos drag the chain on meeting new compliance standard
Australia’s telcos are dragging the chain in meeting a new compliance standard requiring them to clearly set out minimum complaints-handling requirements and processes.
Source: iTWire
ABS may stop counting Internet access in 2021 census
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has floated the idea of no longer bothering to collect data on household internet connections in the 2021 census.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 13th Nov 2018
Local councils and taxi commission continued to seek telco metadata: Comms Alliance
The Communications Alliance has detailed a list of agencies that tried to access telco metadata following the introduction of Australia's metadata retention regime.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NextDC strikes INDIGO cable deal with Superloop
Connection to the INDIGO subsea cable system will be offered from NextDC’s P1 and P2 data centres in Perth as well as its Sydney S1 and S2 facilities.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co gives first sign its FTTC targets are achievable
NBN Co has given its first signs that its FY19 activation target for fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) premises is achievable, hitting just under 20 percent of that target after the first quarter.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC figures reveal telcos buying more NBN capacity
Figures released today by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reveal that the average NBN bandwidth per household increased in the three months to 30 September — from 1.66 megabits per second at the end of June, to 1.71Mbps.
Source: Computerworld
Almost half of NBN users now on 50Mbps or higher plans: ACCC
More than half of all NBN customers on FttP, FttN, FttC, and HFC connections are now on the highest two plans widely available.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mon, 12th Nov 2018
Optus switches on new mobile tower in Bendigo region
Optus has switched on a new mobile tower at Jackass Flat in the Bendigo region to address a known black spot identified by the community.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co proposes to unmeter some Sky Muster traffic
NBN Co is proposing to offer Sky Muster satellite users a major concession by unmetering certain types of traffic including web browsing and software updates, as well as allowing services to burst above 25Mbps.
Source: iTnews Australia
New NBN satellite service to support ‘bursting’, some unmetered services
NBN Co is preparing to launch a family of new satellite services that will potentially support burst speeds in excess of the base 25 megabits per second download speed.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co boosts wholesale data allowances for satellite users
A week ahead of announcing its first-quarter results for fiscal 2019-20, the NBN Co has announced new plans for its wholesale satellite customers which will not count data used for email, Web browsing and critical software updates towards monthly data allowances.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 09th Nov 2018
Telstra CFO to resign for Tesla
Tesla has named Telstra's chief financial officer Robyn Denholm as board chair, fulfilling a demand by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to strip the job from Elon Musk.
Source: ARN
Optus half-year profits fall by a fifth due to NBN migration charges
Optus has seen a 20% fall in profits year-on-year for the first half of its 2018 fiscal year, with Australia's second biggest telco reporting $259 million in net profit for the period against $325 million for the first half a year ago.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 08th Nov 2018
Optus 4G availability tops 90 percent: OpenSignal
Telstra has the fastest 4G speeds, Optus has the highest 4G availability, and Vodafone has the lowest latency, according to OpenSignal's latest report.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co faces FTTC skills squeeze
NBN Co is on track to complete the roll out of its network by June 2020 but the government-owned company is still dealing with a range of engineering challenges, according to its chief network deployment officer, Kathrine Dyer.
Source: Computerworld
How the NBN rollout avoided sacred sites
Providing NBN coverage across areas such as Alice Springs and Broome involved circumventing Indigenous sacred sites, the company's chief network deployment officer has described.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone's infrastructure boost to combat 'not great' iPhone launches
Vodafone Australia provisioned extra cloud infrastructure and set up new monitoring systems for Apple’s iPhone XS and XS Max launch to avoid a repeat of last year when its sites fell over due to the load.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus to launch 5G across Canberra and Brisbane in January
Singtel's first-half FY19 financial results report said Optus would launch 5G first in Canberra and Brisbane at the start of next year, with Australia's remaining capital cities to follow by March 2019.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 07th Nov 2018
Rushed My Health Record changes still missing the point
The Australian government seems obsessed with pushing everyone into its centralised digital health records system before they've even finished working out the rules. Why is that?
Source: ZDNet Australia
My Health Record data misuse penalties raised
Employers have been barred from using health data to discriminate against current or potential employees.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 06th Nov 2018
Web creator Berners-Lee launches contract for better internet
Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has launched a campaign to persuade governments, companies and individuals to sign a "Contract for the Web" set of principles designed to defend a free and open internet.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 05th Nov 2018
Seven per cent of NBN customers still on half the speed they pay for
Thousands of Australians are still getting less than half the home internet speeds they're paying for, according to the latest data on NBN fixed-line connections.
Source: SMH
NBN users may cop speed hit from sub-wholesalers
Internet users whose service providers are directly linked to NBN Co are likely to see better speeds than those whose provider connects to the NBN through a sub-wholesaler, new numbers show.
Source: iTnews Australia
TPG takes out third NBN speed-monitoring report
The ACCC has said TPG is delivering the highest percentage of maximum download and upload speeds to its NBN customers, with Telstra retaining the lowest latency, while MyRepublic came last across most categories.
Source: ZDNet Australia