Broadband News
Tue, 31st Jan 2017
Telstra to publish NBN speeds in coming months
Telstra has decided to publish speeds and performance about the National Broadband Network in coming months, after NBN Co, which is rolling out the network, decided to pull such information from its website.
Source: iTWire
Telstra and Netgear launch 1Gbps mobile router
Netgear's new mobile hotspot is capable of 1Gbps down/150Mbps up, and will work over Telstra's mobile network using 4x4 MIMO and four-band carrier aggregation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra And Netgear's New 4G Modem Downloads At 1000Mbps
Telstra is the world's first mobile network to crack the 1000Mbps download speed barrier over 4G, and it's using this little gadget from Netgear to get there.
Source: Gizmodo
Mon, 30th Jan 2017
Telstra, PROJECT ROCKIT join forces on cyberbullying, online safety
Telstra has partnered with youth-led movement against bullying, PROJECT ROCKIT, to launch a digital classroom aimed at empowering young people to take action on cyberbullying and online safety.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co won't say how many ADSL users will end up on satellite
NBN Co has refused to disclose how many premises with existing ADSL connections will be offered only satellite services in future, revealing what users have now is “not so much a driver of NBN’s technology choice”.
Source: iTnews Australia
Dodo Customers Are More Likely To Buy Online Movies And TV
If you buy your broadband from the guys that do internet that flies, you're also more likely to buy movies and TV shows from iTunes or Google Play.
Source: Gizmodo
Fri, 27th Jan 2017
Optus pushes ahead with voice over wi-fi
Optus has launched a new Voice over wi-fi (VoWiFi) service option that lets customers make calls and send messages seamlessly even when they are out of mobile coverage.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN prospective customers in the dark on network progress: Patton
Internet Australia chief executive Laurie Patton says it is "disturbingly apparent” the company building the National Broadband Network, NBN Co, is becoming “reluctant to provide the sort of information its prospective customers need and expect” about progress on building the network.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 25th Jan 2017
NBN launches 'Gen NBN' marketing campaign
The new marketing campaign features a 60-second TV ad, outdoor advertising, and targeted digital and social media advertising encouraging customers to use the NBN for home, business, education, and healthcare.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN still no case study for nationalised broadband
Australia’s experience with the national broadband network should be reason enough for US policymakers to rebuff attempts by “broadband populists” to similarly nationalise broadband infrastructure, according to a US policy think tank.
Source: iTnews Australia
What's New On Netflix And Stan For February
From Jurassic Park, to Santa Clarita Diet - here's just a taste of what Netflix and Stan are streaming for the month of February.
Source: Gizmodo
Canberra's NBN Delays Are Bad, But Not As Bad As They Seem
The "NBN has abandoned Canberra". That's the strong proclamation from the ACT's Riot Act website, even if it's not entirely accurate. A former Labor candidate for the ACT's legislative assembly in the 2016 election is saying that some areas in the territory have had their NBN connections delayed by as much as 2.5 years.
Source: Gizmodo
Internet Australia appoints new chair
Anne Hurley has replaced George Fong as chair of Internet Australia, the not-for-profit organisation has announced.
Source: Computerworld
How close is the NBN to meeting Australia’s connectivity needs?
The NBN is almost halfway to completion, but will it meet Australia’s connectivity needs?
Source: ARN
Tue, 24th Jan 2017
Satellite operators get spectrum license tax cuts
Satellite operators will pay less tax on the annual spectrum licenses needed for their services, but the cuts aren’t as deep for high-density areas as NBN Co and Communications Alliance had wanted.
Source: iTnews Australia
Rural Mobile Broadband Coverage Is Getting A Boost From Optus
Australia's remote internet coverage is so bad there is a dedicated lobby group to campaign for services. Steps are (slowly) being taken to increase coverage, and now Optus is installing satellite small cells in five locations across regional Northern Territory - as well as six locations across regional South Australia.
Source: Gizmodo
DNS: The ‘Achilles’ Heel’ of the Internet
Arbor Networks has released its twelfth annual Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report (WISR), singling out the Domain Name System (DNS) as one of the Internet services most targeted by DDoS attacks and saying it remains the Achilles Heel of global Internet infrastructure.
Source: Computerworld
Mon, 23rd Jan 2017
Vodafone pushes to curb future NBN Co 'bad behaviour'
Laws used to sanction Telstra for alleged anti-competitive conduct should be kept to stop NBN Co from trying anything similar, according to Vodafone.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 20th Jan 2017
Labor 'very concerned' about telco data retention use in civil cases
Mark Dreyfus has said the review of whether data retention should contain exceptions for use in some civil cases should be public, and needs to be explained 'very, very carefully' by Australia's 'incompetent attorney-general'.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 19th Jan 2017
Metadata ruling 'an analog decision in a digital age'
The Australian Privacy Foundation has described the Federal Court's judgment that key metadata is not personal information as an effective gutting of the Privacy Act.
Source: iTWire
Landmark Australian ruling on what counts as 'personal information'
A full bench of the Federal Court has today handed down a hotly awaited judgment on its interpretation of Australian privacy law, and what qualifies as personal information.
Source: iTnews Australia
Your Metadata Isn't Private Personal Information, Federal Court Decides
A long-running case on whether you're allowed access to view your own mobile phone metadata -- retained by Australia's telecommunications companies for government snooping, including comprehensive call logs and location data -- and whether that data is classified as "personal information" has come to an unceremonious end.
Source: Gizmodo
Wed, 18th Jan 2017
Canberra to bolster its websites against DDoS attacks
The Department of Finance is weighing up ways to protect dozens of federal government websites on its Drupal-based GovCMS platform against DDoS and other potentially devastating attacks.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN rollout progress a ‘pyrrhic victory’, says Patton
Internet Australia chief Laurie Patton is unimpressed with the latest rollout forecasts for the National Broadband Network and says the predicted disruption caused by rollout works in metro areas of major cities could be avoided if the “inferior” copper FttN network is abandoned in favour of a full fibre network.
Source: iTWire
NBN warns of 'disruption' as it takes rollout to cities in 2017
NBN will begin rolling out its network to cities including Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart, Fremantle, and the Gold Coast, with the company warning of disruptions as it needs to access pits and existing infrastructure.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co anticipating 'new problems' in metro rollout
NBN Co is expecting to hit “new problems” in its rollout as the company’s contractors begin connecting more of Australia’s high-density city areas to the network this year.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 17th Jan 2017
Hawaiki ‘on schedule’ as route survey is completed
Hawaiki Submarine Cable and its main supplier, TE SubCom, say they have completed the survey of the cable’s 14,000km route and the project remains on schedule for completion in mid-2018.
Source: Computerworld
Vodafone voice outage caused by error in planned network maintenance
The almost three-hour outage in voice services was caused by an error made during planned work on the network, Vodafone has said, with services restored around 8am.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra and Ericsson encrypt in-transit data over 10Gbps link
Having encrypted data while in transit over a 10Gbps link between the US and Australia, Ericsson and Telstra are now looking towards testing the optical encryption technology over a 100Gbps link.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone taps Ericsson and Cisco for full-scale network virtualisation
Vodafone Hutchison Australia has named Ericsson as prime contractor with Cisco as the main subcontractor for a five-year project to virtualise both the core of its mobile network and the IP network supporting services and applications.
Source: Computerworld