Broadband News
Tue, 06th Jan 2015
iiNet's Perth data centre melts in heatwave
ISP iiNet shut down systems at about 4:30pm AEDST yesterday in an attempt to bring additional cooling online at its Perth data centre as the facility sweated through a day that peaked at almost 45C.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 05th Jan 2015
Netflix users fear for the future of unblocked access
Less than three months out from its local Australian launch, a change to Netflix's app has caused some to fear the company may block access to the US content library for those outside of the country.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus offers 1GB bonus data per month for SIM only mobile plans
If you’ve got an Optus ‘SIM Only’ plan where you use your own phone, at $30, $45 or $60 per month, Optus will give you an extra gig per month for the life of your plan.
Source: iTWire
TPG withdraws NBN competitor product after Turnbull's ruling
TPG has withdrawn its fibre-to-the-basement product from sale temporarily due to not having enough time to make changes in line with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's snap new regulation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 02nd Jan 2015
New Telstra record: 11% increase in SMS and MMS traffic between NYE 2014 and NYD 2015
Australia’s biggest telco, Telstra, has seen ‘a new record’ set over the two day NYE 2014 and NYD 2015 period compared to the same timeframe last year.
Source: iTWire
Telstra, SingTel-Optus rolling out 4G mobile network
When you head into work on Monday morning, don't be surprised if you get some of the best mobile coverage you've ever seen.
Source: SMH
Thu, 01st Jan 2015
4GXTREME: Telstra’s superfast 4GX enjoys supercharged OZ 2015 rollout
Telstra feels the need for a new breed of speed, with 4GX in over 1000 towns and suburbs from 2 January 2015 as 600 new locations get switched on and masses more to come.
Source: iTWire
GGGG: Optus says don’t 4Get its boosted 4G OZ network in 2015
Optus 4Gives Australians a better 4G network in 2015 and doesn’t want you to 4Get it, with 700MHz 4G connectivity and ‘plans’ to cover 90% of Australia’s population with 4G by April.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 31st Dec 2014
Australian telcos in race against time to estimate metadata retention costs
Australian telcos are racing against the clock to estimate how much it will cost them to implement the federal government's controversial data retention regime.
Source: SMH
Vodafone expects massive demand on NYE 2014
It’s Vodafone’s turn for a massive NYE night, with 11 million SMS to be delivered, 4.5 million voice calls to come and lots of extra staff!
Source: iTWire
ABC, Telstra drones to capture NYE fireworks from 1000ft
Drones flown by both the ABC and Telstra will add a bird’s-eye view of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks to TV and online broadcasts tonight.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 30th Dec 2014
Kim Dotcom's Mega to launch anti-spying call and chat service 'soon'
Kim Dotcom, founder of the file hosting service Mega, is preparing to launch an encrypted video-calling and chat service that will shield its users' communications from government surveillance.
Source: ARN
Mon, 29th Dec 2014
Optus: SMS and voice up, pumps ‘mocial’, data and NYE predictions
Optus has finally released voice and SMS stats for Christmas to Boxing Day 2014, rising from 2013 by 3%, voice calls by 5% and a huge rise in data.
Source: iTWire
Sat, 27th Dec 2014
Stuck in a blackspot: Melburnians fight for the right to broadband
Narre Warren South is a metropolitan community trying to fight its way out of an internet blackspot.
Source: The Age
Fri, 26th Dec 2014
ACCAN launches new Community Consultation Guide
ACCAN, the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, has launched its Community Consultation Guide, designed to ‘help communities address issues with mobile coverage in their areas.’
Source: iTWire
Tue, 23rd Dec 2014
Telstra to buy Pacnet for $857m
Telstra will spend US$697 million (A$857 million) to acquire cable operator and telecommunications provider Pacnet and gain access to Asia's largest privately-owned submarine cable network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 22nd Dec 2014
Telstra predicts ‘record breaking mobile network traffic’ during festive season
As happens every year, Telstra predicts festive mobile traffic on its network will go off the charts, with data expected to be 30% higher than last Christmas, among other predictions.
Source: iTWire
NBN reveals HFC timetable
NBN Co says its HFC services will be introduced in the first quarter of 2016, following a customer pilot late next year.
Source: iTWire
Sun, 21st Dec 2014
iiNet says fixed line costs should decrease, not increase
iiNet is calling for a significant reduction in access charges by almost 17% over the next three years, rejecting any move by Telstra to increase charges instead.
Source: iTWire
Sat, 20th Dec 2014
What we found when we captured Senator David Leyonhjelm's metadata
The federal government says its controversial mandatory metadata storage proposal – which will force telcos and internet providers to store phone and web data on all Australians for two years – is necessary to fight serious crime. Prime Minister Tony Abbott described metadata, which will be available to law enforcement without a warrant if the Data Retention Bill becomes law, as "not the content of the letter, it's what's on the envelope".
Source: SMH
Note to data-retention law makers: The internet is not a telephone
Australia is developing its mandatory data-retention legislation with a flawed process that will inevitably produce bad laws. Start again.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 19th Dec 2014
Millions of routers, PCs vulnerable to decade-old cookie flaw
A critical software vulnerability that was supposedly patched in 2005 is still affecting at least 200 types of home and small business internet routers, and could also be used by hackers to compromise millions of networked PCs and IoT devices.
Source: PC Authority
Telstra signs $390m NBN design contract
Telstra has signed a $390 million deal with NBN Co to provide planning and design services for the national broadband network over the next four years.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co reveals date of HFC product launch
NBN Co will start piloting services on hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) cable towards the end of next year ahead of plans to release the product to wholesale partners in the first quarter of 2016.
Source: iTnews Australia
Metadata laws open to scope creep: lawyers
The federal government’s mandatory data retention bill has “enormous” potential for mission creep, prominent law firm Gilbert & Tobin has warned.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra designs new deal for NBN
Telstra is set to pick up more than 50 per cent of the design and planning work for the National Broadband Network in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the telco giant.
Source: The Australian
Thu, 18th Dec 2014
Telcos to go ahead with delayed Tasman Sea cable
Telstra, Spark and Vodafone today reaffirmed their intention to build the Tasman Global Access (TGA) Cable for US$70 million (A$86 million), albeit with several changes to the original business plan.
Source: iTnews Australia
TIO: telco complaints lower than ever but NBN (dis)connection issues a worry
Telco complaints down 9.1% from Q2 2014, down 14.6% from Q3 2013, yet 30,359 complaints during Q3 2014 and NBN connection issues remain: Comms Alliance and AMTA respond.
Source: iTWire
NBN connections ‘shambolic’
Business owners who have signed NBN contracts say telephone, fax and EFTPOS connections are “shambolic”.
Source: The Australian
Wed, 17th Dec 2014
Telcos and law enforcement split over data-retention period
Telecommunications companies have argued that the period of mandatory data-retention in Australia should be less than two years, while law-enforcement agencies have indicated that they would like the data retained for as long as possible.
Source: ZDNet Australia