Broadband News

Tue, 28th Jun 2016

Optus to cut jobs as it considers outsourcing options

Optus is considering job cuts for next year as it looks at outsourcing human resources and back-office financial and accounting functions.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 27th Jun 2016

Fifield clashes with Quigley and Windsor over Tamworth NBN

Australian Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has denied claims by former NBN CEO Mike Quigley and Independent candidate for New England Tony Windsor that the NBN was due in Tamworth in 2013.

Source: ZDNet Australia

iiNet starts NBN HFC cable trials

Internet provider iiNet has primed its first two sites for trials of NBN's hybrid fibre-coaxial cable to see if it is up to standard prior to rolling out a commercial offering.

Source: iTnews Australia

What's New On Stan, Foxtel Anytime And Presto In July

From Mr Robot, to UnREAL and every episode of The Sopranos– here’s just a taste of what Presto, Stan and Foxtel Anytime are streaming for the month of July.

Source: Gizmodo

Lebara, Macquarie Telecom, Hello Mobile, Go Talk and Pivotel Prepaid Join Vodafone 4G

Over the next two weeks five more Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) — telcos who don’t own the network infrastructure — will join TPG Mobile and Kogan on the Vodafone 4G network.

Source: Gizmodo

Former NBN CEO joins Tony Windsor on campaign trail

NBN’s original CEO, Mike Quigley, has joined independent candidate for New England, Tony Windsor, to spruik the potential benefits for regional Australia of returning to a fibre to the premises (FTTP) National Broadband Network rollout.

Source: Computerworld

ISPs, rights holders wrangle over ongoing court oversight for website blocks

The degree of ongoing court oversight involved in the blocking of pirate websites was a central disagreement as Village Roadshow, Foxtel and a group of ISPs returned to Federal Court in Sydney on Friday.

Source: Computerworld

Fri, 24th Jun 2016

Aussie ISPs fight against rolling piracy site blocking

Australia’s biggest carriage service providers are pushing back against Foxtel and Roadshow’s efforts to implement a rolling injunction for piracy sites to stop them from reappearing under new domain names.

Source: iTnews Australia

Turnbull pledges $12m to mobile coverage for Central Coast trains

The Turnbull government this morning promised to spend $12 million improving mobile phone coverage for train commuters between Sydney and Newcastle if it wins next weekend’s election.

Source: iTnews Australia

Your election guide to the NBN

With one week left before the federal election, we've provided a guide for which candidates support fibre to the premises and which are opting for a multi-technology mix for Australia's National Broadband Network.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Genesis: let there be gigabit backhaul speeds and 400Mbps access broadband over copper

In the beginning there were acoustic couplers, and then 300bps modems, but fast forward to 2016, and Genesis Technical Systems has achieved incredibly fast speeds over copper.

Source: iTWire

NBN – it's like a 150-year-old train wreck

Australia has already lived through a communications mix-and-match disaster.  We're doing it all over again.

Source: iTWire

Thu, 23rd Jun 2016

Foxtel pushes to prevent workarounds in piracy site-blocking case

The definition of an 'online location' must be sufficiently broad to prevent workarounds once a website block is put in place, Foxtel and Roadshow have argued in court.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN shift to FttN a 'colossal mistake' that will burden Australia: Former NBN CEO

Former NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley has lashed out at the politicised NBN multi-technology mix, saying that if the original FttP plans had been retained, the network would have cost AU$45 billion.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Coalition's NBN will hit electronics retailers

Electronics retailers are likely to be affected by the Coalition's NBN plan, for the simple reason that the speeds on offer will make it difficult for Australians to enjoy the one new benefit that newer TV sets bring: 4K video.

Source: iTWire

Former NBN Boss Reveals Copper Will Cost More Than Fibre

Former NBN boss Mike Quigley has told the Melbourne University Networked Society Institute that the current copper-based FTTN strategy would end up costing more than the original fibre-optic model, prompting lobby group Internet Australia to renew its call for a review of the National Broadband Network.

Source: Gizmodo

Not too late to change NBN’s direction, NBN Co’s first CEO says

The Coalition’s decision to largely ditch a fibre to the premises (FTTP) rollout has led to the National Broadband Network heading in the wrong direction according to NBN’s original CEO Mike Quigley.

Source: Computerworld

Wed, 22nd Jun 2016

Free public Wi-Fi is addictive and bad for you

Public Wi-Fi should be free and ubiquitous, but just as the various cities and businesses rush to provide it cyber criminals rush to compromise it.

Source: iTWire

Labor claims on Internet speeds falling to 60th globally 'correct'

The Australian Labor Party's claims that the country has fallen globally from 30th to 60th in Internet speeds under the Coalition government are correct, according to the ABC's Fact Check unit.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 21st Jun 2016

Majority of Australians want faster NBN, even if it costs more

Regional Australians are desperate for politicians to take their internet woes seriously, as new data shows broad support for government spending on the NBN.

Source: ABC News

Vodafone’s vibrant network confidence: updated Network Satisfaction Guarantee

Vodafone has updated its Network Satisfaction Guarantee with a 30 day money-back period for post-paid customers if unsatisfied, no questions asked, as Voda points to strong OpenSignal results.

Source: iTWire

Telcos’ data retention funding in limbo

The assessment process for telcos’ applications for financial assistance to help defray the costs of data retention remains ongoing, with any decisions on final payouts to be decided by the incoming government after the federal election

Source: Computerworld

Netflix hits 5 million Aussie subscribers, while rivals languish in their wake

Streaming video service Netflix has leapt well ahead of its rivals in the Australian market with subscribers to its service now on the verge of hitting the 5 million mark.

Source: iTWire

NBN Figures Reveal Fibre To The Node Is More Popular than Fibre To The Premises

Earlier this month the federal government revealed take-up rates in areas with Fibre To the Node NBN availability, and now a deeper look at these figures has shown FTTN is being adopted at a far faster rate than Fibre To The Premises in its early days.

Source: Gizmodo

Mon, 20th Jun 2016

Australian fixed broadband speeds to average 44.3Mbps by 2020: Cisco

Fixed broadband will increase 2.4-fold between 2015 and 2020, according to Cisco, while Wi-Fi speeds grow by 2.6-fold and mobile connection speeds double.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra reveals mobile blackspot small cell locations

135 remote locations across Australia will receive 4G services thanks to the small cells installed by Telstra as part of the government's mobile blackspot program.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Australia’s mobile networks get a big tick

Australia is an early tech adopter and in the 3/4G stakes, it is no different. Its mobile networks meet or exceed world standards.

Source: iTWire

Cisco internet traffic forecasts expose further flaws in Govt's NBN rollout

Cisco has delivered its annual Visual Networking Index Internet traffic forecast which predicts traffic growth going out to 2020.

Source: ARN

Sun, 19th Jun 2016

Vodafone 4G availability catches up with Telstra: survey

Australia's mobile networks are in good shape and consistently available across the country despite several recent nationwide outages, analyst firm OpenSignal's latest survey reveals.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra to roll out 135 rural 4G base stations

Telstra will deliver 135 4G small-cell base stations in rural areas across all seven Australian states as part of its involvement in the federal government's mobile blackspot program.

Source: iTnews Australia