Broadband News

Mon, 23rd Jun 2014

AusBBS challenges NBN market with budget telephone-only plans

Australian ISP, AusBBS, has launched National Broadband Network (NBN) based telephone plans starting at $34.95 for consumers on the brink of copper disconnections.

Source: ARN

Fri, 20th Jun 2014

Vodafone blames backhaul for outage, offers free data

Vodafone has blamed its backhaul for causing a nation-wide mobile outage in Australia yesterday, and has offered free data to its customers this weekend in apology.

Source: ZDNet Australia

All three carriers hit with major outages

Telstra, Optus and Vodafone all had serious network problems yesterday. Vodafone is offering a free weekend of data to make up for it.

Source: iTWire

Thu, 19th Jun 2014

Good customer service is no longer good enough: Optus

A recent study by Optus has shown that Australian organisations still have a long way to go in achieving 'outstanding' customer experience.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone's network goes down across Australia

Vodafone has experienced major network issues today which have downed mobile services for customers right across the country, in an afternoon when customers of all three Australian network providers have suffered degrees of service interruptions.

Source: iTnews Australia

Outage strikes Telstra ADSL customers in Victoria

A hardware failure has resulted in an ADSL outage in Melbourne for Telstra customers.

Source: Computerworld

Vodafone, Optus mobile networks down as Telstra's ADSL takes a hit

Vodafone and Optus’ mobile networks took a blow on Thursday, June 19, with the telecommunications providers confirming mobile network outages throughout the day, while Telstra experienced ADSL service disruptions.

Source: ARN

Vodafone's network suffers outage across Australia

Vodafone says it is working to get service back for customers across the country who have been unable to make or receive calls since lunchtime.

Source: ABC News

Govt refuses to support data breach notification bill

The Coalition Government has refused to back a reinvigorated bill that would force companies to notify customers of a data breach, saying while it agrees with the concept in principle, the proposed legislation needs more work.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN job market thriving as vacancies increase 248 per cent: Indeed

National Broadband Network (NBN) related job vacancies have increase by 248 per cent in the six months since NBN Co submitted its Strategic Review but this has contributed an overflow of IT professionals looking for positions, according to job search Web site, Indeed.

Source: ARN

Slow internet? Maybe you have one of 120,000 vulnerable broadband routers

Is your home internet running slow? Is your monthly internet bill larger than you expected?

Source: SMH

Wed, 18th Jun 2014

Judgement reserved in Telstra underground duct access pricing dispute

Judgement has been reserved in the Telstra (ASX: TLS) case versus Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Vocus Communications (ASX: VOC) and iiNet (ASX: IIN) subsidiaries as Telstra continues to maintain that it acted in accordance with its underground duct access pricing contract.

Source: Computerworld

Vocus buys submarine cable capacity from Telecom NZ

Vocus has paid Telecom NZ nearly $2.5 million to acquire 10 per cent interest in the Sea-Me-We 3 cable between Perth and Singapore.

Source: Computerworld

Foxtel to blame for Game of Thrones piracy, says Choice

Foxtel's "outdated business model" is to blame for Australia's high rate of pirating Game of Thrones, according to consumer advocate and advisory group Choice.

Source: SMH

Cheaper texting on the way

The cost of SMS text messages in Australia is set to drop, with the ACCC deciding to regulate the costs in the same way it does with voice calls.

Source: iTWire

Dodo failed to warn broadband customers of excess usage

Internet service provider Dodo failed to let customers of its fixed broadband services know that they were approaching their monthly quota limits for data, an Australian Communications and Media Authority investigation has found. As a result, thousands of customers incurred excess usage charges without first receiving a warning.

Source: Computerworld

Tue, 17th Jun 2014

ACCC to regulate SMS termination fees

The competition watchdog will for the first time regulate fees charged by network operators to receive and terminate SMS services on their networks, after its inquiry into the regulation of mobile termination access services (MTAS) found commercial negotiations had failed to lower abnormally high SMS rates.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra reaches for regional Australia with 700MHz spectrum

Telstra has hit speeds of 235 Mbps in a test of 4G mobile broadband using 700MHz spectrum in Perth.

Source: Computerworld

Downloading 300 gigabytes is small time in the world of pirating

Despite illegally downloading 300 gigabytes of movies and TV episodes every month, Alex Mack* says he doesn't even come close to being Australia's most prolific infringer of copyright.

Source: SMH

Mon, 16th Jun 2014

Online scams hurt the most

Almost $90 million was reported lost to scams in Australia last year, with nearly half of that amount through online scams.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co to roll out fibre and fixed wireless to 26 regions across Australia

Almost 45,000 premises in 26 regions across Australia are set to receive fibre and fixed wireless broadband in the continuing rollout of the NBN.

Source: ARN

Melbourne city train tunnels get mobile coverage

Melbourne follows Sydney in securing mobile covering in its city loop train tunnels.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Next NBN rollout areas announced

NBN Co has announced a further 44,709 homes and businesses around the country are in line for fibre or fixed wireless connections.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 13th Jun 2014

Police investigating cut Telstra cables

Tasmanian police are investigating how vandals managed to cut Telstra cables in three locations in one suburb on Wednesday night, causing significant disruption to the local network.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra renews Service Stream wireless construction contract

Telstra has renewed its wireless construction contract with NBN contractor, Service Stream, in a two-year extension.

Source: ARN

Thu, 12th Jun 2014

Telstra's Foxtel bundles threaten net neutrality: ACCAN

As more content is streamed online, and Foxtel locks up exclusive rights to that content, Telstra's bundles and unmetered streaming of Foxtel represents a threat to net neutrality, according to the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co and Internode connect first South Australian fixed wireless service

NBN Co has connected its first fixed wireless service in South Australia as part of a rollout in the Coorong region.

Source: ARN

NBN Co renews Service Stream field services delivery contract

Service Stream has won its second contract renewal for work on the national broadband network in a month, today announcing a two-year extension to its existing field services delivery contract across five states and territories.

Source: iTnews Australia

Spirit Telecom launches 200 Mbps residential service

Melbourne voice and data carrier Spirit Telecom has made 'up to' 200 Mbps Internet available to residents of the new Triptych apartments in Melbourne's Southbank.

Source: iTWire

Wed, 11th Jun 2014

Popularity of public Wi-Fi complicates mobile security

Research released earlier this year by analyst firm Telsyte revealed that despite the growth of smartphones and tablets in Australia, the mobile data market had seemingly plateaued.

Source: Computerworld