Broadband News
Thu, 20th Apr 2017
In-flight Wi-Fi takes off on Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia's in-flight Wi-Fi will use Optus' fleet of satellites and connectivity provider Gogo, with the three-month trial on one domestic aircraft providing customers with free access to the service.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN cements DOCSIS 3.1 HFC commitment by joining CableLabs consortium
NBN has announced joining HFC technology standards group CableLabs in order to collaborate with global cable companies on bringing DOCSIS 3.1 and full duplex DOCSIS to market to enable gigabit speeds.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Ballarat blasts NBN Co over claimed $13m repair bill
The City of Ballarat says it is still waiting for NBN Co and its contractors to fix 6500 instances of damage to council infrastructure caused by the rollout of the fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telcos want to help consumers understand broadband performance
Telecommunications industry body Communications Alliance has put together an education package designed to help consumers understand Australia’s increasingly complex broadband landscape.
Source: Computerworld
NBN joins cable broadband R&D group
NBN announced this morning that it had been accepted as a member of CableLabs, an international R&D and standards body focused on cable networks.
Source: Computerworld
Wed, 19th Apr 2017
NBN: The Ultimate Guide to your current and future speeds
Wondering what kinds of speed you can expect from your connection now, and in the future? We break every part of the technology mix down.
Source: PC Authority
Tue, 18th Apr 2017
TPG raises AU$320m to fund Australian mobile network
TPG has raised AU$320 million of the AU$400 million it is seeking to help fund its AU$1.9 billion mobile network across Australia, with primary shareholders including CEO David Teoh providing most of the contribution.
Source: ZDNet Australia
VPNs Become Even More Important As ISPs Start Collecting Customer Metadata
As of Friday last week, Australian internet service providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies are officially required to collect “metadata” about their customers’ communications. According to the legislation, this data includes...
Source: Gizmodo
TPG savaged in $1b sell-off after mobile network plans revealed
TPG shares have been dumped, sending the stock plummeting more than 18 per cent and shedding a billion dollars from its market value, after it revealed plans to build Australia's fourth mobile network.
Source: SMH
Ebay threatens to block Aussies from global purchases
Ebay may block Australians from buying overseas goods on its platform rather than try to collect GST on those purchases and remit it to Australia.
Source: iTnews Australia
Don't treat home internet as a fringe benefit: Telstra
The federal government should no longer consider home internet services a fringe benefit given the large number of Australians that now work from home, according to Telstra.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 14th Apr 2017
Three Charts On Australia's Growing Appetite For Fast Broadband
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest figures on internet activity in Australia show a huge jump in the number of people with advertised speeds of greater than 24 Mbps (that’s megabits per second, a measure of data transfer speed).
Source: Gizmodo
Thu, 13th Apr 2017
Metadata can't be used in civil lawsuits, Brandis rules
The federal government has decided to block civil litigants from being able to request access to data retained under the nation's data retention scheme for use in their lawsuits.
Source: iTnews Australia
'Get a VPN' as metadata retention scheme deadline arrives, experts say
Today was the deadline for internet providers to be compliant with Australia's metadata retention scheme. If you don't want the Government to be able to see your online activity, then you better get a virtual private network, digital rights advocates say.
Source: ABC News
Metadata capture begins but information not to be used for civil cases
The Federal Government will not allow civil litigants to access metadata stored by telecommunication companies after a backlash from lawyers and privacy advocates.
Source: ABC News
Wed, 12th Apr 2017
Telstra share price plummets after TPG's mobile move
Telstra's share price plunged more than 7 percent today on the news that a new rival is about to enter the mobile telecommunications market.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Watch: NBN, and subsequently, the Government, needs to own its network, now
While NBN spends countless amounts of money shaping its narrative – mainly by feeding stories about improvements to the mix (Did you hear FTTC is up to 1 million connections now?) and highlighting how technology is improving (2x Faster Speeds on Fixed Wireless!) – most of what you hear in the trenches and the media is about the carnage left in its wake. While countless NBN connections are likely being installed and set up without any problems, there are hundreds of thousands that are not.
Source: PC Authority
TPG to deploy $2bn mobile network
TPG is set to become Australia’s fourth mobile network operator with a $2 billion investment to cover 80 percent of Australia’s population.
Source: iTnews Australia
TPG and Vodafone snap up last 700MHz spectrum
TPG and Vodafone have snapped up management rights for the 30 MHz worth of radio frequency spectrum in the 700 MHz band that was left unsold in 2013 auctions.
Source: iTnews Australia
TPG to build own mobile network after $1.2b spectrum splurge
TPG will build its own mobile network in a move set to shake up the Australian telecommunication landscape, having paid the government $1.26 billion for a slice of the nation's 4G mobile spectrum.
Source: SMH
Tue, 11th Apr 2017
NBN Congestion Is Forcing ISPs To Build Their Own Private Networks
The NBN is a complicated piece of technology -- the largest infrastructure project in Australian history. From its inception in 2007 as a mostly-fibre network to the multi-technology mix of 2017, it's evolved into a Byzantine mess both for customers to understand and for internet service providers to manage. The main pain point is congestion -- a lack of virtual capacity on the network that slows some connections to a crawl. It's bad enough that some smaller ISPs are provisioning their own networks rather than relying on existing backhaul from NBN and their own competitors.
Source: Gizmodo
NBN expands FttDP network to 1m premises; trials 10Gbps fibre with Nokia
NBN will expand its FttDP network to 1 million premises across the country, also announcing that speeds of around 10Gbps and all the way up to 102Gbps have been attained with Nokia during a trial of NG-PON2.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN should deliver wholesale mobile service: Vodafone
NBN should deliver a wholesale mobile service using its fixed-wireless towers, or alternatively allow easier collocation and share backhaul and spectrum with mobile providers, Vodafone has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Is the NBN heading towards a mobile iceberg?
The federal government needs to make urgent and drastic changes to the structure of the NBN or face having the bottom of the network cannibalised by mobile services, according to telco industry experts.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN considers roll-out of NG-PON2
NBN sees potential in NG-PON2 (Next-Generation Passive Optical Network 2) as means to deliver on its future bandwidth and capacity requirements, the company’s CTO said today.
Source: Computerworld
nbn shakes up rollout mix, again
nbn is boosting its FttC footprint to one million premises, in yet another shake-up of its rollout technology mix.
Source: ARN
Mon, 10th Apr 2017
Telco body urges caution on NBN speed monitoring
Telecommunications industry body the Communications Alliance has urged caution over the broadband monitoring programme announced by the government last week.
Source: iTWire
SBS calls for unmetered access over NBN
SBS wants the government to unmeter access to on-demand content produced by Australia’s “national broadcasters” over the national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vodafone worried that NBN will stunt 5G
Vodafone has raised concerns that prime 5G spectrum in Australia is parked with NBN Co and may need to be “withdrawn” to accommodate next-generation mobile services.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 07th Apr 2017
NBN cable rollout delayed as HFC 'false activations' leave homes offline for months
Ongoing NBN installation faults have delayed the Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) rollout, while red tape has left hundreds of homes in broadband limbo for months – with relief finally on the way following Fairfax Media investigations.
Source: SMH