Broadband News

Thu, 17th Aug 2017

NBN: Bill Morrow should hang head in 12Mbps of shame

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd first spoke of a 12Mbps NBN back in 2007, which even then wasn’t that fast, so to still have 29% of Australians stuck on 12Mbps in 2017 is shameful.

Source: iTWire

Telstra shares slump as profit tumbles, dividend slashed

Telstra shares tumble to five-year lows as it slashes its future dividends and announces plans to sell a part of its future NBN receipts.

Source: ABC News

Wed, 16th Aug 2017

Telcos can make NBN speed problem disappear, insists Tasmanian ISP

The head of a Tasmanian retail service provider has taken issue with statements made by Robin Eckermann, an adjunct professor at Canberra University, about CVC pricing and its impact on prices for NBN packages.

Source: iTWire

Optus Wholesale opens up NBN services through BTB partnership

​Optus Wholesale​ has established a partnership with BTB Australia to deliver national broadband network (NBN) services, which BTB will on-sell to energy retailer, WINconnect.

Source: ARN

Racing authorities push for access to phone metadata ahead of Melbourne Cup

Punters make up to "600 bets a second" on Melbourne Cup day, but authorities say they have been unable to uphold the race's integrity since the Federal Government stripped them of their right to request phone records two years ago.

Source: ABC News

Tue, 15th Aug 2017

NBN Co may flip problem FTTN lines to different tech

Premises in the NBN’s fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) footprint with lines incapable of 25 Mbps peak rates could be moved over to an alternate access technology if all other options fail.

Source: iTnews Australia

Rules prevent FttN users from complaining about speeds

NBN customers who are on fibre-to-the-node connections are unable to lodge a fault with the company in charge of the broadband rollout about slow speeds unless the download speed falls below 12Mbps.

Source: iTWire

NBN doubles revenue to $1 billion as rollout passes halfway mark

Criticisms and public and industry disquiet about the National Broadband Network aside, NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow has given an upbeat assessment on the broadband rollout on the back of revenue more than doubling from $421 million to $1 billion for the 12 months to the end of June - against the 2017 corporate plan target of $900 million.

Source: iTWire

MyNetFone takes "cautious" approach to the NBN

MyNetFone reveals a "cautious" approach to the NBN, as it posts $191.8 million revenue for the full year ending 30 June 2017.

Source: ARN

Sluggish top tier uptake throws NBN returns into question

​The stagnant rate of the average revenue per user from active NBN services is set to remain a source of uncertainty for the project’s ultimate profitability.

Source: ARN

Mon, 14th Aug 2017

NBN chief tells Vodafone to accept prices or walk

NBN Co chief Bill Morrow has warned Vodafone not to bother becoming an NBN reseller if it can’t make the current wholesale pricing work.

Source: iTnews Australia

Aussie telcos faced over 333K Govt metadata requests in FY16

​Australia’s government agencies made approximately 333,980 authorisations for the disclosure of historical telecommunications data in FY2016.

Source: ARN

Southern Cross asks for quotes for new Pacific cable build

Southern Cross Cable Network has issued a request for quotes for the build of its 60 terabit per second NEXT trans Pacific circuit, following the successful completion of an ocean floor survey.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co to "prioritise" enterprise orders

NBN Co is stepping up its bid to chase enterprise and government accounts, revealing plans to “prioritise” their orders as it tries to take 20 percent of its total revenue from the business sector.

Source: iTnews Australia

Subsea survey finds faster route for Southern Cross NEXT cable

A survey of around 15,000 kilometres of seabed has found a faster route for the Southern Cross NEXT cable project, which will connect Sydney, Auckland, and Los Angeles.

Source: Computerworld

Fri, 11th Aug 2017

NBN Co reveals 54,000 FTTN users can't get over 25 Mbps

NBN Co has revealed that one-third of all active fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) services are currently incapable of achieving a downlink in excess of 50 Mbps.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN rivals weigh options to deal with broadband tax

Operators of networks considered to compete with the NBN are divided on whether to try to absorb the broadband tax or pass it through to their customers.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN CVC usage climbs as new discounts begin

NBN users may have seen a marginal improvement in the minimum performance of their connections at peak times after ISPs bought more backhaul capacity in the last quarter.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus doubles its NBN customers

Optus has said its 'solid quarter' was thanks to the addition of mobile and NBN customers, along with its media content offerings and mobile network investment to expand 4G to 96.4 percent of the population.

Source: ZDNet Australia

CVC growth outstripping NBN premises added for quarter to June: ACCC

In a turnaround on the last two quarterly wholesale reports, data capacity is ahead of premises in terms of growth.

Source: ZDNet Australia

6 percent of FttN NBN connections cannot hit 25Mbps

Users could be stuck on 12Mbps until June 2022, while 65 percent of FttN users can go above 50Mbps.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra continues to dominate NBN market

Telstra continues to dominate the take-up of NBN connections with an overall share of a little more than 50%, according to the ACCC's latest quarterly report on the NBN wholesale market.

Source: iTWire

Govt drops NBN tax bombshell

Consumers would pay just 20 cents a month extra if corporate internet services were excluded from the base of the planned broadband tax, the government has admitted.

Source: iTnews Australia

TPG revises reach of FTTB network

TPG has revealed its fibre-to-the-basement (FTTB) network in metropolitan areas now covers 115,000 apartments, but its original target of reaching half a million premises may never be realised.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus registers growth in NBN revenue

Optus now has 279,000 customers on the National Broadband Network. The telco revealed today that in its first quarter its consumer fixed-line revenue grew 13.2 per cent, which it says was mainly attributable to NBN migration fees and a growth in its NBN customer base.

Source: Computerworld

nbn wholesale access tally surges past 2.5M

ACCC quarterly report shows that Telstra competitors in regional areas are maintaining higher market shares, compared to traditional broadband services.

Source: ARN

Thu, 10th Aug 2017

Virgin Australia switching on Wi-Fi for domestic and international flights

Virgin Australia's in-flight Wi-Fi will be fitted onto 90 percent of its aircraft by the second half of 2019 in partnership with Optus and Gogo.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Virgin Australia to put inflight wi-fi on local, international flights

Virgin Australia will roll out inflight wi-fi to the majority of its domestic and international fleet of aircraft and offer a basic free service to all domestic passengers.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 09th Aug 2017

Complaints rising against Telstra, Optus, Vodafone: TIO

Complaints about Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, and Amaysim all rose over the quarter, according to the TIO's latest complaints in context statistics.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tue, 08th Aug 2017

Australian 5G field trial costs could be slashed

Australia’s mobile telcos could see the cost of testing 5G equipment in the field cut by up to 90 percent after a decision by the communications regulator to review the pricing of trial spectrum.

Source: iTnews Australia