Broadband News
Fri, 07th Oct 2016
Government to auction off 700MHz mobile broadband spectrum
Vodafone's proposal to buy the spectrum outright sparked negative responses from Telstra, Optus, and TPG, with the government deciding to auction off the 700MHz spectrum instead.
Source: ZDNet Australia
The Australian Government Is Auctioning Off The Rest Of The 700 MHz Spectrum
The Turnbull Government today announced it will sell off two lots of 15 MHz of unallocated 700 MHz digital dividend spectrum by auction.
Source: Gizmodo
Aussie telcos to compete on 700 MHz spectrum auction
The Australian government is putting 2 x 15 MHz of unallocated 700 MHz wireless digital dividend spectrum up for auction.
Source: ARN
Vodafone vrooms in Canberra: major network boost, prepares for 5G
Canberra’s Vodafone network capacity has had some serious capital applied to give it a major boost, catering for growing data demand.
Source: iTWire
Optus Mobile – not hacked
The Sydney Daily Telegraph reported a hack on Optus Mobile yesterday, allegedly enabling hackers to take over control of at least 170 users phones to steal data and send unsolicited messages to random numbers.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 06th Oct 2016
Triple-zero emergency service up for grabs after being run by Telstra for more than 50 years
The federal government will push ahead with a new tender for Australia's triple-zero emergency call service, despite an official review warning changes should be delayed until location capability technology is implemented and co-ordination problems are resolved.
Source: SMH
Optus working with Nokia on 5G
Optus and Nokia intend to operate a prototype 5G service in Australia next year. The two companies have already conducted closed tests of 5G at Optus's Sydney headquarters using Nokia's AirScale system.
Source: iTWire
NBN resolves software upgrade causing satellite connectivity issues
The satellite connectivity issue was caused by a software upgrade, with NBN also certain that it will 'never' see capacity constrain speed across its service thanks to beam-management technology.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN launches second satellite Sky Muster II
After a 24-hour delay from poor weather, NBN's second satellite has been launched to provide the Australian population living in regional and remote areas with high-speed broadband.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN tackles software upgrade issue as Sky Muster II enters orbit
nbn is taking steps to ensure customers in regional areas don’t see a repeat of an outage in late September that affected areas serviced by its Sky Muster satellite service.
Source: ARN
Wed, 05th Oct 2016
Telcos tee off in round two of domestic roaming debate
Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone are using the same arguments for both sides of whether the ACCC should declare wholesale domestic mobile roaming.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN closes in on half-way mark for regional rollout
In Australia’s non-metro areas, the rollout of the National Broadband Network is 42 per cent complete, according to NBN’s chief network engineering officer, Peter Ryan. Non-metro Australia covers “the biggest physical expanse and lowest density areas we have,” the NBN executive said in a speech today.
Source: Computerworld
Vodafone New Zealand launching gigabit-speed broadband
Following suit with Chorus, Vodafone NZ is now offering customers a 1Gbps fibre broadband service across the government's UFB network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Exetel takes on UK market
Exetel has begun offering services in the UK, the Australian Internet service provider has announced.
Source: Computerworld
NBN delays Sky Muster II satellite launch
NBN’s second satellite, Sky Muster II, was to blast into space this morning, from the French Guiana Space Centre in South America before orbiting 36,000km into the sky.
Source: ARN
Tue, 04th Oct 2016
Telstra could lose national emergency alerts deal
Telstra will have to fight to keep a contract to deliver the Australian emergency alert service to all mobile phones and landlines across the country after the deal was opened back up to the market.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC declares Telstra's mass systems remediation complete
Telstra has finally achieved compliance with the structural separation undertaking (SSU) it signed four years ago after completing a large-scale remediation program that spanned 42 IT systems.
Source: iTnews Australia
Foxtel Play's Massive Makeover Means Cheaper Game Of Thrones
Foxtel Play is getting a massive makeover in December of this year. Presto customers will be moved across, prices will be cut to as little as $10 per month to attract more customers, and more content will be added to a simplified tier structure including sport and HBO entertainment like Game Of Thrones.
Source: Gizmodo
MyNetFone strikes MVNO deal with Telstra
MNF Group, whose brands include MyNetFone and voice carrier Symbio Networks, will begin offering 3G and 4G services using Telstra’s mobile network.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra trials connected car technology in South Australia
Telstra has teamed up with intelligent transport systems company, Cohda Wireless, in trialing Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology over Telstra’s 4G network in South Australia.
Source: ARN
Presto streaming service to vanish into Foxtel Play
Presto will disappear early next year as Seven West Media sells its stake to joint venture partner Foxtel, which plans to shut the service and direct customers to its own online video streaming service.
Source: ABC News
Mon, 03rd Oct 2016
AFL grand final fans hit Telstra mobile network with massive traffic boost
Fans at Saturday’s AFL grand final generated a massive 2.3 terabytes of traffic on the Telstra mobile network using their mobile phones and other devices to stream video, browse the Internet, upload photos to social media and receive and make telephone calls.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 30th Sep 2016
Vodafone Australia shutting down 2G network in 2017
Following Telstra by two years and Optus by one year, Vodafone has finally announced the closure of its 2G network in September next year.
Source: ZDNet Australia
What’s happening with the NBN, Optus, and HFC?
NBN quietly announced yesterday that it would no longer be attempting to utilise Optus’s HFC network in its makeup. Instead, it would utilise the much touted “compromise” technology – Fibre To the Distribution Point (FTTdp) in up to 700,000 households – which effectively extends the fibre point to the house boundary and utilises copper for the final 10-50 metres. The use of Optus’s network would be restricted to the heavily re-engineered launch site in Redcliffe, QLD, and effectively abandoned outside of that area.
Source: PC Authority
Ziggy wins second term as NBN chair
The federal government has reappointed Ziggy Switkowski as the chair of NBN Co for another three years, keeping him in the role until just prior to the slated 2020 completion of the NBN rollout.
Source: iTnews Australia
Ziggy Switkowski reappointed NBN chair
The government has reappointed Dr Ziggy Switkowski as chair of NBN’s board.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra to cut up to 300 roles from retail business
Around 300 jobs will be cut from Telstra’s retail business, with the company confirming that redundancies may follow from the proposed reduction.
Source: ARN
Vodafone bids farewell to 2G network
Vodafone Hutchison Australia will shut down its legacy 2G network by September next year.
Source: ARN
Thu, 29th Sep 2016
Melbourne activates free Wi-Fi network across CBD
Melbourne, Ballarat, and Bendigo citizens and visitors can now receive access to free Wi-Fi under a joint project between the Victorian government and TPG.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internet Australia applauds NBN move from HFC to FTTdp
Internet Australia, the peak body representing Internet users, has applauded NBN’s decision not to use the “old Optus Pay-TV cables” and adopt a fibre to the distribution point (FTTdp) solution.
Source: iTWire