Broadband News
Tue, 25th Oct 2016
Department of Communications reviews ACCAN funding
The NBN rollout among other changes in the telco industry has sparked the government to review its funding of ACCAN for consumer representation and research.
Source: ZDNet Australia
IBM apologises over census 2016 outage
IBM's managing director fronts a Senate committee to apologise "unreservedly" for this year's 40-hour census outage, but admits nobody has been sacked or disciplined.
Source: ABC News
Mon, 24th Oct 2016
NBN to launch FttDP without G.fast
Despite being described as a 'central component' of FttDP in NBN's recently commissioned Ovum report, ZDNet understands G.fast will not be immediately enabled for the 2018 FttDP launch.
Source: ZDNet Australia
$10,000 Is All It Costs To Bring Down The Internet
For just US$7500, you can buy access to a botnet of shitty, compromised Internet of Things gadgets that can break the ‘net. You’ve got to know where to look, who to pay, and what digital target to aim at, but still. $10,000 is cheap.
Source: Gizmodo
Chinese firm admits its hacked products were behind massive DDoS attack
A Chinese electronics component manufacturer says its products inadvertently played a role in a massive cyberattack that disrupted major internet sites in the U.S. on Friday.
Source: ARN
Fri, 21st Oct 2016
NBN Co reveals ambition to become IoT player
NBN Co has revealed it is looking beyond its government mandate to create an internet of things (IoT) business, connecting “non-premises infrastructure” like traffic lights and potentially offering wholesale compute and storage services.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co tells world broadband forum of need for faster rollout to meet deadlines
NBN Co chief network and operations officer JB Rousselot has told the Broadband World Forum in London that the company needs to move faster in rolling out the broadband network and activating premises.
Source: iTWire
Optus providing satellites for Early Warning Network
The developer of the Early Warning Network has signed a deal to provide remote communications across Australia using Optus' satellites and the SatSleeve+.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 20th Oct 2016
ACMA opens investigation into 5G mobile broadband spectrum
The ACMA is undertaking an initial investigation of the 1.5GHz and 3.6GHz spectrum bands for refarming to enable mobile broadband over future 5G networks.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACMA starts discussion of spectrum re-farming for 5G
International plans for the early adoption of 3.6GHz for 5G services have led the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to bring forward public discussion of the use of this part of spectrum.
Source: iTWire
ABS apologises for AU$30m Census bungle, ISPs say IBM had standard DDoS protections disabled
Australian Statistician David Kalisch has told Senate Estimates the ABS incurred AU$30 million in remediation costs due to the Census night stuff-up.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Netflix Has More Customers Than Ever In Australia
Talk of a customer revolt has fizzled as Netflix’s growing stable of original content continues to win over new subscribers at home and abroad. It’s only 18 months since Netflix officially opened its doors in Australia but it’s already seen the demise of one local competitor in Presto, plus the foreign raider has forced Australia’s volatile Freeview consortium to finally build its long-promised cross-network streaming service which is set to launch in November.
Source: Gizmodo
Optus enhances 4G services across Canberra
Optus will boost its 4G services at more than 10 sites across Canberra to improve data coverage, download speeds and voice quality for its mobile customers.
Source: ARN
Basslink could unplug cable, warns Bryan Green
Tasmania's vital Basslink cable could be switched off if the company's finances do not improve, Opposition Leader Bryan Green says.
Source: ABC News
Wed, 19th Oct 2016
NBN satellite users waiting five weeks to connect, experiencing outages: Morrow
Due to greater than expected demand, satellite customers are having to wait an average of five weeks to be connected and are experiencing 'multiple' network failures, NBN CEO Bill Morrow has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN adding 'ready for service' areas to rollout map
Along with listing areas with services available, build commenced, and build prep, NBN will now make RFS premises searchable by the end of 2016.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN predicts CVC charge will drop to AU$10
While in the midst of industry consultation over the oft-criticised CVC pricing, NBN CEO Bill Morrow has said the company expects pricing to eventually fall to AU$10.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone Is Launching NBN Home Broadband Next Year
Vodafone is getting on board with the NBN. Australia’s challenger telco already has plenty of customers on its mobile network, but it wants to convert those users into home broadband users too.
Source: Gizmodo
Vodafone finally makes its NBN play
Vodafone has confirmed it is preparing to enter the National Broadband Network market, with the company’s CEO — Iñaki Berroeta — saying that the telco intends to offer its first fixed-line broadband services before the end of next year.
Source: Computerworld
NBN eyes new discount scheme for RSPs in early 2017
NBN CEO Bill Morrow expects that “if all goes well” NBN will implement a previously mooted discount system based on how much capacity per customer an individual retail service provider (RSP) provisions.
Source: Computerworld
Tue, 18th Oct 2016
NBN Co to tweak RSP pricing model for fee drop
NBN Co will make more changes to its broadband pricing structure to encourage retail service providers to purchase more bandwidth, forecasting that the fees will drop by almost half in the coming years.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra, Ericsson, Qualcomm unveil 1Gbps 4G network, mobile router, 5G modem
Telstra is well on the path to 5G, with the announcement of its gigabit-speed 4G network in conjunction with Qualcomm's gigabit-class mobile router and 5G modem chipset solution.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra security chief, Mike Burgess, steps down
Telstra chief information security officer, Mike Burgess, has resigned from the telco after spending nearly four years in the role to “explore other opportunities", according to a Telstra spokesperson.
Source: ARN
XG.Fast delivers 8Gbps over copper in NBN lab trials
NBN has achieved speeds of up to 8 gigabits per second over 30 metres of copper using XG.Fast, the company announced today.
Source: Computerworld
Assange's internet 'cut off' by Ecuador, WikiLeaks says
WikiLeaks says founder Julian Assange's internet was shut down by the Ecuador Government, deflecting blame from the US or British governments who have sparred with Mr Assange for releasing sensitive material.
Source: ABC News
Mon, 17th Oct 2016
G.fast broadband expected at 29m premises by 2021: Ovum
Western Europe is on track to deliver high-speed G.fast first thanks to the European Commission's 2020 target of 100Mbps to 50 percent of households.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN on board as report predicts global explosion in ultra-fast network technology
NBN Co has flagged it could deploy ultra-fast G.Fast or XG.Fast technology to underpin the rollout of its Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) network to 700,000 premises, just as a new report by Ovum predicts an explosion in use of the new technologies worldwide over the next five years.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 14th Oct 2016
Australia government urged to fund extension of Hawaiki Cable to Norfolk Island
The Australian government is being urged to fund the extension to Norfolk Island of the $US300m Hawaiki Cable that will link Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii to the US.
Source: Computerworld
ACCC rules to continue ADSL regulation amid NBN rollout
The Australian competition watchdog has released its draft decision to continue regulating the wholesale ADSL service for a further five years.
Source: ARN
Adelaide wants to build CBD-wide fibre network for business
Adelaide City Council wants to lay up to 100km of fibre optic cable through its CBD in the hope that a dedicated high-speed network for businesses will lure big organisations back to its streets.
Source: iTnews Australia