Broadband News
Wed, 24th Feb 2016
Reliability, broadband performance and affordability are telco consumer priorities: ACCAN
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) recently held its Meet the People Forum at Parliament House in Canberra to highlight important telecommunications consumer priorities for 2016 to Federal Parliamentarians.
Source: ARN
Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone to retire
Telstra chairwomen Catherine Livingstone will retire from the board of directors after seven years in the position.
Source: CRN
Telstra Is Spending Millions To Develop Australia's 5G Mobile Networks
Australia’s 4G networks are only getting faster. But it’s the future beyond 4G that equally concerns Telstra, so it’s playing an active role in ensuring that the next big leap forward in mobile networking is one that suits Australia and Telstra’s Australian customers — and it’s spending money to do so.
Source: Gizmodo
Don't Hold Your Breath For Telstra Unlimited Plans
Despite major rivals Optus and Vodafone offering plans with unlimited calls and texts, and the newer players using unlimited as a means of attracting customers, Telstra has no intention of following suit.
Source: Gizmodo
Tue, 23rd Feb 2016
Foxtel Announces Unlimited Broadband Bundles
After 12 months of offering broadband and home phone bundles, Foxtel today announced the launch of its new Unlimited broadband and home phone bundles.
Source: Gizmodo
NBN satellite to deliver inflight Wi-Fi for Qantas
Qantas will offer in-flight Wi-Fi on its domestic services via NBN’s satellite broadband service, the airline announced today.
Source: Computerworld
Govt MPs dismiss fears of NBN mission creep
A Senate committee has endorsed a controversial bill that will change some of the rules governing NBN’s operations, but Labor and Greens senators have called for a major overhaul of the proposed legislation.
Source: Computerworld
Mon, 22nd Feb 2016
Vodafone lifts customer numbers to over 5 million
Vodafone added 135,000 new customers in 2015 to bring the total number of its network users in Australia to 5.4375 million.
Source: iTWire
NBN HFC pilot delivers average download speeds of 84Mbps
The HFC network trial has delivered average speeds of 84Mbps down/33Mbps up, with DOCSIS 3.1 and node splitting to improve these speeds by mid-2017, according to NBN.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Senate seeks greater transparency for NBN finances, rollout forecasts
The Senate has amended and passed a government bill adding provisions that will, if the bill becomes law, compel NBN to make public a range of financial and rollout data.
Source: Computerworld
Optus boosts network in major stadiums
Optus plans to ramp up its network in major stadiums so customers at sporting and music events can stay digitally connected and access or upload content faster.
Source: ARN
Telstra’s mobile 1Gbps service coming, trial of Ericsson 5G for 2018 Comm Games
Telstra has made some interesting announcements at its Mobile World Congress press event - a trial of Ericsson’s 5G technologies for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and some capital cities getting 1Gbps Cat 16 LTE later this year.
Source: iTWire
Telstra Is Adding Voice Over Wi-Fi And Video Calling To Its Network In 2016
This year, Telstra will let its customers make voice calls using their mobile numbers over their home Wi-Fi, seamlessly handing off voice calls from 4G to customers’ in-home wireless networks when mobile coverage gets spotty. It’s also working on its in-house-developed video calling service that will operate over 4G.
Source: Gizmodo
Fri, 19th Feb 2016
TIO reveals mandatory data retention complaints
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has begun receiving complaints from consumers experiencing difficulties in obtaining data held by their service providers under Australia’s mandatory data retention laws.
Source: iTnews Australia
This Week's Biggest NBN And Telco News: No More 'Three Strikes', But Site Blocking Is In Courts Now
Here’s where we round up all the Aussie news around the ‘net about the ‘net, every week. Check in here for a quick primer on everything from piracy to privacy to data retention and the NBN.
Source: Gizmodo
Pirate website blocks: Full details of who wants what blocked
Court filings from the first two attempts to use a controversial anti-piracy law offer details of what websites rights holders want blocked and how they expect Internet service providers to block their customers from accessing them.
Source: Computerworld
NBN complaints rise by 40 percent amid continuing drop in telco complaints
Complaints to the TIO about 'unusable' and delayed NBN services have risen again, though not as rapidly as new connections have been made.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Phone complaints lowest in 9 years, but Internet complaints up
Complaints about telco phone services have hit a nine year low, dropping by 9.4% in the three months to the end of last December, but the news is not so good for Internet services.
Source: iTWire
Telstra adds IoT support to 4G network
Telstra today announced that it has enabled support for Category 1 devices on its LTE network. Cat 1 LTE is intended for connecting devices that are part of the so-called ‘Internet of Things’.
Source: Computerworld
Optus and Huawei trial 4.5G technology
Telecommunications company, Optus, and ICT solutions provider, Huawei, are conducting a live trial of 4.5G technology, which has thus far resulted in download speeds of download speeds of between 1.23Gbps and 1.41Gbps, with theoretical maximum speeds reaching 1.43Gbps.
Source: ARN
Thu, 18th Feb 2016
Foxtel moves to block piracy websites
Rights holders are finally moving to leverage the piracy site-blocking legislation passed by the Australian government last year.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ISPs blindsided by 'shelved' Australian piracy code
Australia's internet service providers have been blindsided by claims from Village Roadshow that a draft industry code for copyright infringement has been ditched after the cost of operating the scheme was found to be too high.
Source: iTnews Australia
Report: Copyright Owners Abandon Australian 'Three Strikes' Piracy Code
Copyright content owners have been pushing for an industry code that would require Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to send warning notices to subscribers suspected of illegal downloading. This code has now been canned, according to a report. The reason? It would cost too much to implement. Here’s what you need to know.
Source: Gizmodo
ISPs to have coordinated response to website blocking
Internet service providers that will be affected by prospective Federal Court injunctions ordering them to block subscriber access to specified piracy-linked websites are moving to ensure the process is as streamlined as possible.
Source: Computerworld
A strong 6 months sees Telstra keep mobile competitors at bay
Telstra’s profits are up, mobile revenues and mobile customers have increased, fixed line business has declined and the big telco is rewarding shareholders with an interim dividend of 15.5 cents for the first half year of the 2016 financial year.
Source: iTWire
Telstra's figures grow in first half of FY16
Telstra is on track to meet its full year guidance after reporting a net profit increase of 0.8 per cent to $2.1 billion and EBITDA increase of 1.7 per cent to $5.4 billion for the first six months of FY16, ending December 31.
Source: ARN
Village Roadshow, Hollywood studios move to block piracy website SolarMovie
Village Roadshow will lead an action in the Australian Federal Court backed by Hollywood studios to have internet service providers block a piracy website which facilitates the free streaming of movies and television shows such as Star Wars and The Walking Dead.
Source: SMH
Wed, 17th Feb 2016
NBN talks up ‘game-changing moment’ for HFC
NBN chief technology officer Dennis Steiger has hailed as a “game-changing moment” an announcement from CableLabs that it has proved the viability of full duplex communication over hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) connections using the DOCSIS 3.1 standard.
Source: Computerworld
NBN hails 'game-changing' DOCSIS 3.1 gigabit speeds on HFC
NBN has said that new technology allowing for the utilisation of DOCSIS 3.1 brings HFC alongside FttP in terms of broadband speeds available to users.
Source: ZDNet Australia
TPG sources alternative cable ship for PPC-1 repair
TPG has sourced a cable ship to undertake the repair of PPC-1, the underwater cable that stretches from Sydney and Guam and is operated by the telco’s subsidiary Pipe.
Source: Computerworld