Broadband News

Tue, 27th Jun 2017

NBN boosts Sky Muster data limits

NBN has announced it will boost the data quotas available to end users on its Sky Muster satellite service.

Source: Computerworld

Adelaide laments sluggish NBN rollout

Claims that the rollout "is not agile or fast enough" to serve the city's business needs.

Source: ARN

Mon, 26th Jun 2017

Broadband tax bill sent to senate inquiry

The government could face a hurdle in its attempt to introduce a broadband tax after the senate referred the proposed law to a committee for scrutiny.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra withdraws support for broadband tax

Telstra has withdrawn its support for the broadband tax as concerns mount that the charge has morphed into an “industry tax” on the telecommunications sector.

Source: iTnews Australia

TPG savages broadband tax as band-aid for 'broken' NBN

TPG has launched a withering attack on NBN Co’s “already broken” business model, warning it will continue to be eroded despite government attempts to patch it up with new laws.

Source: iTnews Australia

Fri, 23rd Jun 2017

ACMA mulls 5G future for 3.6GHz spectrum

The potential re-farming of spectrum in the 3.6GHz band for use in fixed and/or mobile broadband services could begin as soon as soon as Q4 2017, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Source: Computerworld

nbn the provider of "last resort"

Macquarie Telecom Group’s David Forman has revealed that nbn is the broadband access provider of “last resort” for the telco.

Source: ARN

iiNet co-founder joins Superloop's board

Former iiNet co-founder and CEO, Michael Malone, has joined Superloop (ASX:SLC) as its chairman of the board. Prior to this, he was the company’s independent non-executive director, a role he took on in April 2015.

Source: ARN

Thu, 22nd Jun 2017

Govt goes ahead with broadband tax bill

The federal government has made good on its promise to introduce broadband tax legislation before parliament wraps up for the winter.

Source: iTnews Australia

Government moves to implement NBN subsidy

The government has introduced legislation to implement the so-called ‘NBN tax’: A levy on superfast broadband services that will help subsidise services on the National Broadband Network that would not otherwise be commercially viable.

Source: Computerworld

Rural Aussies call for expansion of broadband monitoring program

Regional Australians are concerned that they will be denied their say in the latest broadband speed monitoring program launched by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Source: ARN

Wed, 21st Jun 2017

Australia ends GST-free threshold for online low-value goods

A government bill to remove the GST-free threshold for online purchases bought from overseas has officially passed parliament, but will come into effect one year later than originally planned.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co to upgrade high-traffic transit routes

NBN Co is set to begin upgrading high-traffic routes on its nationwide transit network as it hits scale in the rollout.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN eyes capacity boost for transit network

Key fibre links on NBN’s 60,000 kilometre transit network will see a capacity boost after NBN rolls out new technology from Coriant.

Source: Computerworld

Tue, 20th Jun 2017

Foxtel turns to data and digital to take on Netflix

Foxtel's recent launch of a new streaming service to compete with Netflix is just one facet of a major data and digital transformation taking place behind the scenes of Australia's pay TV leader.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vodafone, CCC call for end to ‘black hole’ of USO

Vodafone and the Competitive Carriers’ Coalition have repeated their calls for the Telecommunications Universal Service Obligation scheme to be scrapped in the wake of yesterday’s report on the USO by the Productivity Commission.

Source: Computerworld

Mon, 19th Jun 2017

First NBN FTTC areas unlikely to be able to order retail service

Residents of the Sydney suburb of Hunters Hill are likely to be the recipients of the first fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) deployment in Australia, but they won’t be able to actually order a retail service.

Source: iTnews Australia

Your crappy broadband could make life easier for other Australians

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has begun seeking volunteers to participate in its broadband performance monitoring program.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra phone funding “should be wound up”

The Productivity Commission says that the telecommunications universal service obligation is “deficient” and should be wound up by 2020.

Source: ARN

Fri, 16th Jun 2017

Parliament passes digital fair dealing for Copyright Act

Educational facilities, key cultural institutions, libraries, archives, and those with a disability are now able to access copyright material under the fair use provision amendments to bring the legislation into the digital age.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co adds 50 new suburbs to FTTC rollout

NBN Co will begin its rollout of fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) in the back half of this year to almost one-third of premises in the current planned footprint.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN begins FTTC roll out

NBN has begun the roll out of fibre to the curb (FTTC), the company announced this morning.

Source: Computerworld

NBN considering deploying third satellite

NBN is looking into deploying a third satellite, leasing capacity from third-party satellites, improving its satellite technology, or building more towers in an effort to improve its satellite service.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN begins FttDP network construction

NBN has kicked off a trial of its FttDP construction and installation process in Melbourne ahead of rolling the network out to almost 320,000 premises in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth this year.

Source: ZDNet Australia

nbn trials FTTC technology in Melbourne suburb

The first stage of building Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC) access technology is underway through a trial in Coburg.

Source: ARN

Broadband wholesaler to fight Sydney telco over costly court ruling

​Satellite broadband wholesaler, IPSTAR, has moved to fight a court ruling that it pay SkyMesh millions over allegedly faulty equipment.

Source: ARN

Thu, 15th Jun 2017

NBN Co to push more workloads to public cloud

NBN Co is set to push a greater percentage of its application workloads into public cloud, pointing to an evolution of the company’s already-hybrid infrastructure support platform.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 14th Jun 2017

NBN CVC will compromise pricing or customer experience: Vocus

NBN's CVC is 'counter-intuitive' and will either compromise customer experience or the cost to access the network, Vocus has said, adding that its FY18 strategy will see it push further into mobile.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vocus hires former Melbourne IT exec as CTO

Vocus has appointed a former Melbourne IT chief technology officer as its new CTO and is preparing to select the executive who will lead its new high-stakes transformation office.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra axing 1,400 Australian jobs

Telstra has confirmed 1,400 jobs will be cut within Australia, with the company expected to make a formal announcement after notifying staff later today.

Source: ABC News