Broadband News

Wed, 21st Feb 2018

Telstra claims iMessage and FaceTime bug now fixed

Earlier today, Telstra announced that "some" of its customers "experienced an issue with Apple iMessage and FaceTime," but has since announced the problem has been fixed.

Source: iTWire

NBN deal sees NetComm earnings surge

​NetComm Wireless (ASX:NTC) has experienced a record half-year revenue and earnings for FY18, mainly thanks to key projects such as its contract with NBN.

Source: ARN

Speed issues? It ain't us that's to blame, says NBN Co

The NBN Co is well known for doing what Pontius Pilate did – washing its hands of any responsibility for the shabby network that it has built so far. Today, it has unveiled another instalment in this exercise.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 20th Feb 2018

ACCC wants bigger fines for big companies that mislead consumers

The ACCC describes planned bigger fines for big business as the key to changing corporate culture, as cost-of-living issues, including NBN speeds and energy prices, also make its list of top priorities for 2018.

Source: ABC News

Labor plans more fibre-based broadband for Adelaide

South Australian Labor has pledged to deliver fibre-based broadband services in Adelaide if it wins the state election next month.

Source: Computerworld

Consumer watchdog flags further action over NBN speed claim issues

NBN resellers look set to come under further scrutiny by the country’s consumer watchdog over misleading speed claims, with more “interventions” on the way.

Source: ARN

Vocus boosts NBN market share

Vocus has for the first time released data on its total share of the NBN market. The telco said that as of the end of 2017 it had captured 8.8 per cent of the market, up from 7.4 per cent at the end of 2016.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra to pursue 'open telco' experiment

Telstra has revealed the existence of an ‘open telco experiment’ that will combine elements from at least three open source software projects.

Source: iTnews Australia

5G will complement NBN, not replace it: Nokia

5G will not replace Australia's NBN, according to Nokia's head of Fixed Networks, as fixed-line technology upgrade paths will enable faster speeds sooner than wireless, and with greater download allowances.

Source: ZDNet Australia

ACCC to penalise NBN Co if technicians miss appointments

Australian Consumer and Competition Commission chairman Rod Sims says rules will be introduced to penalise the NBN Co when its technicians do not turn up for scheduled appointments.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 19th Feb 2018

NBN Co told to expect new service standards

NBN Co has been warned to “expect much higher levels of regulation” this year as the competition watchdog turns its attention to the network builder’s role in the end-to-end NBN experience.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN plans capacity boost for fixed wireless network

NBN plans to boost the capacity of its fixed wireless service, according to the company’s executive general manager for access products, Gavin Williams.

Source: Computerworld

NBN Co to invest in fixed wireless upgrade

NBN Co has promised to invest in capacity upgrades for its fixed wireless network after coming under fire over its approach to dealing with congestion.

Source: iTnews Australia

House panel opens inquiry into NBN Co business case

The Australian parliament's Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network has opened inquiries into the NBN Co's business case and the rollout of the network in rural and regional areas.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 16th Feb 2018

NBN business case, regional rollout to be scrutinised

Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on the National Broadband Network will put NBN’s financial forecasts under the microscope as one of two new inquiries.

Source: Computerworld

NBN Co fixes wireless when users go below 3Mbps peak

NBN Co has publicly defined the threshold at which it considers fixed wireless towers to be congested enough to warrant an upgrade.

Source: iTnews Australia

Network expert says NBN Co's business model is broken

A prominent network expert and frequent commentator on the national broadband network has described NBN Co's half-yearly results as a "train wreck" and said that there is nothing that can be done to get the company back on the rails.

Source: iTWire

Thu, 15th Feb 2018

Telstra focuses on cutting costs as NBN rollout ramps up

Telstra plans to double down on its efforts to reduce costs as it works to minimise the impact caused by the NBN rollout.

Source: ARN

Telstra to get more 'aggressive' after AU$1.7b half-year profit: Penn

Telstra will increase its 'intensity' heading into the second half of FY18 after reporting EBITDA of AU$5.1 billion and net profit of AU$1.7 billion, with CEO Andy Penn outlining the company's NBN customer improvement strategy.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra delivers 85 percent of NBN speeds during peak

Telstra is buying more connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) bandwidth for NBN users, today claiming it now delivers “more than” 85 percent of the maximum speed of services during peak times.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra profits drop on back of Ooyala investment disaster

Telstra’s profitability has taken a big hit from its disastrous investment in US-based business Ooyala with the big telco reporting profit for the six months to the end of December plunged by 5% to $1.7 billion compared to the previous half year.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co finally breaks out cost of FTTB

NBN Co has finally broken out the cost of deploying fibre-to-the-basement technology, putting it at $2822 per premises.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra-backed trial achieves 2Gbps downloads over 4G

Telstra, Ericsson, Netgear and Qualcomm have achieved wireless data transfer speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second during in-lab testing.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra and Ericsson attain 2Gbps 4G speeds

A year after launching gigabit LTE, Telstra and Ericsson have announced attaining 2Gbps speeds across 4G by utilising 4x4 MIMO and 256 QAM, and aggregating 100MHz of spectrum across three frequency bands.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co launches STEM initiative for some schools

NBN Co, the company rolling out Australia's national broadband network, has launched what it calls a STEM+X initiative to help educate students so they can achieve skills that will enable them to compete in the workforce.

Source: iTWire

Wed, 14th Feb 2018

Australia Singapore Cable prepares for start of main lays

Cable and repeaters destined for the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) project are now en route to Singapore and Christmas Island as the Vocus-owned initiative prepares to start the main cable lay.

Source: iTnews Australia

Councils yet to get NBN area switch over the line

NBN Co is yet to see any councils that have applied to upgrade the NBN connections of constituents sign off on the costs to proceed.

Source: iTnews Australia

Greens say net neutrality inquiry needed in Australia

The Australian Greens claim that an inquiry into net neutrality is needed to ensure that Australians are guaranteed access to a free and open Internet.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 13th Feb 2018

Senate knocks back net neutrality inquiry

The Senate has voted down a Greens motion to establish a parliamentary inquiry into network neutrality protections.

Source: Computerworld

Users furious over Vocus Sydney data centre outage

Vocus customers are suffering major issues after “unsuccessful UPS maintenance” at the operator’s Alexandria data centre in Sydney this morning caused a power outage.

Source: iTnews Australia