Broadband News

Wed, 16th Dec 2015

iiNet Has Almost Won Its Dallas Buyers Club Piracy Case

iiNet has almost won its case against Dallas Buyers Club LLC in the Federal Court, marking the start of the final stage in what will be a landmark judgement for copyright infringement law in Australia.

Source: Gizmodo

Dallas Buyers Club downloaders safe for now

The latest attempt by the rights holders of Dallas Buyers Club to obtain the details of alleged movie pirates has failed.

Source: Computerworld

Optus scores 10-year Olympics deal

Optus is extending its sports remit with a sponsorship deal with the Australian Olympic Committee for the next 10 years.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN appoints chief network engineering officer

NBN has appointed its interim chief network engineering officer into the permanent role, with the executive to oversee the network's design, engineering, and rollout.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tue, 15th Dec 2015

Telstra opens Wi-Fi network to mobile customers, offers free Wi-Fi

Telstra is allowing its mobile customers to access Telstra Air for the first time, as well as offering free Wi-Fi for the next six months to all customers.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telcos get credit for improved performance, drop in services complaints

The Communication Alliance has lauded the telecommunications industry for an improved performance in delivery of services to customers as new figures published today show that consumer complaints to telcos about services have dropped significantly.

Source: iTWire

Telco complaints hit nine-year low as NBN migration bares fruit

Telecommunications consumer complaints to the industry ombudsman have fallen to their lowest level in nine years during the most recent quarter according to figures released by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).

Source: ARN

Slow internet speeds top complaints list

Slow data speed has topped the list of most complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Source: CRN

Mon, 14th Dec 2015

Telstra trumpets ABC iview’s arrival on Telstra TV plus other stats

ABC iview can now be viewed on the Roku-powered Telstra TV from 15 December with Telstra customers watching ‘over 34 years of entertainment in just four weeks.’

Source: iTWire

NBN doubles satellite data allowances, moves 40k homes to fixed-wireless

NBN is now offering 150GB data allowances for users on its satellite service, proposing to also give distance education children an additional 50GB per month.

Source: ZDNet Australia

nbn boosts broadband satellite data: bigger and better

nbn says it has found a way to make bigger data plans available for Australians in rural and regional areas with ‘some of the world’s best commercial satellite broadband’ during Q2 2016.

Source: iTWire

nbn boosts broadband satellite capacity

​Builders of the national broadband network, nbn, improved its satellite broadband capacity for rural and regional Australia.

Source: ARN

Fri, 11th Dec 2015

M2 and Vocus halt trading before crucial milestone

M2 Group could be one step closer to merging with Vocus, after both companies were granted a share trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange this morning.

Source: CRN

M2 Group and Vocus Communications go into trading halt

The securities of M2 Group (ASX:MTU) and Vocus Communications (ASX:VOC) have been placed in trading halt at the request of the companies, pending the release of an announcement.

Source: ARN

Thu, 10th Dec 2015

Do you want to Belong

Belong, Tesltra’s wholly owned low-cost ISP has extended its network and will now offer ADSL services across Australia with households in more regional centres and outer metro hubs.

Source: iTWire

Presto’s eye now on PS3 and PS4 at home and away

Presto is now available on Sony’s PS3 and PS4 consoles as Sony kicks off 20th anniversary Playstation celebrations and Presto gets set to air new content.

Source: iTWire

Government announces mobile blackspot round 2

The government has opened the second round of its mobile blackspot program to nominations, committing to provide AU$60 million in funding.

Source: ZDNet Australia

DDoS attacks hit record peak: Akamai

The latest State of the Internet report from Akamai Technologies has found that DDoS attacks reached peak levels in Q3 2015, with online gaming receiving half of the total recorded DDoS attacks.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Wed, 09th Dec 2015

Telcos get second chance to bid in Aussie mobile blackspot program

Australia's telecommunications companies will get another chance to bid for tens of millions in funding from the government to build mobile towers in regional blackspots as the second round of the national mobile blackspot program opens.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN ignored in govt innovation strategy – a lost opportunity: analyst

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been criticised for not embracing what one analyst calls a ‘truly future-proof’ NBN and failing to mention the broadband network in his innovation policy announcement to kick-start innovation and new startups in the ICT industry.

Source: iTWire

ACMA finds telcos contravened TCP Code with security deposits

The telco industry regulator has found that two service providers breached the TCP Code by requiring a security deposit without first undertaking a credit assessment.

Source: ZDNet Australia

DBC waters down damages claim to access alleged iiNet pirates

The owners of the Dallas Buyers Club film have diluted the damages claim they want to levy on alleged infringers in an effort to get access to account details held by ISPs on the accused pirates.

Source: iTnews Australia

NSW’s Roads and Maritime Services among agencies interested in data retention

New South Wales’ Roads and Maritime Services is among the state and federal government agencies seeking to get ongoing access to data covered by the data retention scheme.

Source: Computerworld

Only iiNet customers in Dallas Buyers Club crosshairs – for now

A new proposal by the rights holders of the movie Dallas Buyers Club would see letters sent to only a collection of alleged illicit downloaders that are iiNet customers.

Source: Computerworld

Dallas Buyers Club: Precedent supports more compensation

The film studio hasn't finished arguing in the Federal Court, continuing to seek additional damages from the almost 5,000 people who downloaded the movie.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tue, 08th Dec 2015

Telstra to co-invest with Fed Govt: silicon quantum computing

Telstra will invest $10 million and ‘in-kind’ support over five years to help the development of silicon quantum computing technology in Australia.

Source: iTWire

Vodafone gets access to Dropbox for Business

Dropbox and Vodafone have partnered to give the telco’s customers access to Dropbox for Business.

Source: ARN

Former Telstra manager in court accused of stealing mobile phones worth $200k

A former Telstra manager accused of falsifying records to steal about $200,000 worth of mobile phones to sell online appears in court in Alice Springs.

Source: ABC News

Mon, 07th Dec 2015

Government obtained 4,000 telco interception warrants for FY15

The total number of telecommunications interception warrants decreased marginally from a year earlier, while a total of 83 agencies were permitted to access telco data.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Analysis: The destruction of the NBN

From one of Australia’s best political ideas to a smouldering mess of ideology trumping the good of nation, the NBN looks likely to fail in almost spectacular fashion.

Source: PC Authority