Broadband News
Wed, 17th Oct 2018
Optus, you have a problem: Telco giant fuels complaints to ombudsman
Complaints about the country's two biggest phone and internet providers, Optus and Telstra, continue to make up the bulk of consumer gripes — and they're mostly about mobile services.
Source: ABC News
Telco complaints 'turning the corner': TIO
NBN complaints to the TIO are trending down despite more premises being activated, the TIO has revealed.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra attracted most complaints in 2017-18, says TIO
Telstra residential and small business customers were the most vociferous complainants about phone and Internet issues in the last financial year, generating 82.528 complaints, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%, according to figures from the TIO released on Wednesday.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 16th Oct 2018
Telstra calls for near halving of NBN wholesale price
Telstra CEO Andy Penn wants a AU$20 chop to the pricing charged to retailers by NBN.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra chair says execs are overpaid, and a shareholder backlash shows they agree
Telstra chair John Mullen says Australian executives are generally paid too much, and his shareholders agree, with almost two-thirds rejecting the company's latest remuneration report.
Source: ABC News
Telstra CEO demands $20 a month NBN price cut
Telstra CEO Andy Penn has called for a “more than $20” a month cut to NBN Co’s wholesale charges because reseller margins are “rapidly falling to zero”.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra profits down as NBN, increased mobile competition impacts business
Telstra has taken a hit to its bottom line for the second year running, according to full-year 2018 results released today revealing net profits fell by 8.9% to $3.5 billion despite a 3% increase in revenues to $29 billion.
Source: iTWire
Telstra pins its financial woes on government
Telstra has laid the blame for its financial problems squarely at the feet of the federal government, savaging the NBN policy for taking a financial bite the size of Qantas out of the telco’s profitability.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra expects profit to be cut in half after full NBN roll out
Telstra chairman John Mullen told shareholders today that the telco's net profit is expected to be cut in half after the NBN is fully rolled out.
Source: ARN
NBN still to get 'face time' with many Aussies but if you have it, you communicate more
A new report called "Connecting Australia" by NBN Co tells us people who have the fast version of the NBN use it to connect more with family and friends, in what is yet another report stating the obvious.
Source: iTWire
eSIMs: telcos fear losing users, claims Boost founder
Mobile virtual network operator Boost Mobile claims telecommunications carriers in Australia are holding back on supporting eSIMs as they may well end up losing customers.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 15th Oct 2018
Mobile blackspots round 4 opens for applications
Mobile operators can now apply for a slice of the AU$25 million funding under the fourth round of the Australian government's mobile blackspots program.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mozilla brands Assistance and Access Bill as
Mozilla has called the Assistance and Access Bill intentionally vague on the "form and extent of what might be compelled by a TCN".
Source: ARN
Lycamobile again runs foul of court with hefty fine
Mobile service provider Lycamobile has been penalised $25,000 for underpaying an employee’s wages, including full overtime entitlements.
Source: iTWire
Labor not ruling out writedown of NBN: Rowland
The Australian Labor Party is keeping open the option of writing down the value of the national broadband network if it were to win the next federal election, according to Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.
Source: iTWire
Telcos want exemption from emergency fuel rationing
Australian telcos have applied to be exempt from rationing during a liquid fuel supply emergency.
Source: iTnews Australia
Cisco raises “grave concerns” over Assistance and Access Bill
Cisco has raised "grave concerns" over the Assistance and Access Bill stating it is essential that "we avoid the false dilemma of trade-offs" between privacy and security.
Source: ARN
Australia encryption bill will weaken cyber security, warns Apple
Apple has raised concerns about the Assistance and Access Bill, arguing its “dangerously ambiguous” wording will create a risk to weakened cyber security.
Source: ARN
Australian encryption-busting Bill would create backdoors: Cisco
Tech giants including Apple, Cisco, and Mozilla have criticised the Australian government for wanting to introduce laws that would allow for access to encrypted content.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 12th Oct 2018
NBN gigabit connections will remain mostly a pipe dream
The CVC costs set by the NBN Co make it very difficult for ISPs to offer gigabit connections to more than a select band of customers who are willing to sign up in numbers and pay slightly more than other speed tiers, according to one ISP who caters to this type of consumer.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 11th Oct 2018
NBN Co says fibre-to-the-curb build is more complex that it hoped
NBN Co is hoping to “speed up” building works on the fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) portion of its network as it tries to make up lost ground.
Source: iTnews Australia
High-speed broadband helping small businesses thrive: claim
A comparison of small businesses in mature NBN regions and non-NBN regions who use the accounting software Xero shows that employment in the former grew by a third and increased revenue by two-thirds, a study claims.
Source: iTWire
Brisbane outages: Telstra cable users hit, not NBN customers
Telstra Internet subscribers, who are connected by the company's HFC cable network, suffered outages in western parts of Brisbane last month, and not NBN users, as claimed by a user in that area.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 10th Oct 2018
Labor’s Rowland warns against rushing encryption bill
Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland has called for the government to “engage directly” with industries and stakeholder bodies likely to be affected by its proposed encryption bill “regarding the significant concerns they have raised about the measures in this bill, with a view to developing workable solutions.”
Source: Computerworld
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