Broadband News

Mon, 26th May 2014

Spectrum at the forefront as Telstra's mobile revenue thrives

Telstra's mobile business was responsible for nearly half the telecommunications provider's $604 million revenue increase in the first half of fiscal 2014.

Source: ARN

Labor to target NBN Co's Morrow over utilities lawsuit

In a move reminiscent of the Coalition's pursuit of former NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley, Labor has indicated it will question NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow in Budget Estimates this week about a lawsuit against a US utilities company he ran until 2008.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Abbott was unmovable on 'shocker' NBN policy: Oakeshott

Then-opposition leader Tony Abbott was unwilling to budge on the Coalition's 2010 broadband policy during minority government negotiations, according to former Independent MP Rob Oakeshott

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN not enough to save Australia's IT future: Atlassian co-founder

Australia’s AU$29.5 billion national broadband network rollout will not be enough to save the future of the nation’s IT industry, according to Atlassian co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus backing shark detection network

A future shark detection system funded by Optus could see shark warnings sent directly to smartphones.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Morrow named in US court case

NBN Co CEO Bill Morrow has been named in a US court case, in which shareholders of his former company PG&E are suing 12 senior managers for negligence.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 23rd May 2014

Turnbull commences review of spectrum management

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has commenced a review into the government's spectrum management policy for mobile technology use.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Megaport wins data centre spat with TPG

Megaport has won a battle through the communications arbitrator against TPG-owned Pipe Networks after the telco tried to prevent Megaport from accessing two Pipe data centres.

Source: iTnews Australia

Thu, 22nd May 2014

Towns set to lose phone access as NBN takes over

A number of Australian towns are set to have their copper networks switched off tomorrow as part of the switch to the NBN, yet a study has shown they're largely unaware.

Source: iTWire

Two Anonymous members charged over hacking

Two Australian men who claim to be members of Anonymous, an online activism group, have been arrested for hacking government and corporate websites.

Source: ABC News

Telstra yields to two-hour notice for NBN pull-through

Telstra has agreed to notify ISPs within two hours from when NBN Co advises of the need to switch off a copper or cable service in order to connect a premise with fibre.

Source: iTnews Australia

The final countdown: NBN Co issues warning on first copper shutdowns

Tomorrow marks a major milestone for (what's left of) the National Broadband Network: The copper network will be switched off in the first areas to receive NBN fibre.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra's NBN migration proposal gets the ACCC go-ahead

Telstra's proposed measure to support the migration of customers onto the National Broadband Network (NBN) has received the tick of approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Source: ARN

iiNet targets NBN as key growth opportunity

iiNet has identified the NBN as a key growth opportunity for the company as the rollout creates a "level playing field" for the internet service provider in a presentation to investors.

Source: ARN

Wed, 21st May 2014

Australia, US, and UK join partnership to protect satellites

Australia is joining a global initiative to help satellites avoid space junk, and each other.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone sheds 1 million mobile customers

Vodafone has lost more than one million mobile customers over the past year, resulting in its user base dropping below 5 million for the first time in four years.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vodafone has fewer than 5 million customers

Despite signs of a turnaround, Vodafone has continued to shed customers in the first quarter of 2014.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tue, 20th May 2014

Telstra details new $100m wi-fi network

Telstra will spend more than $100 million to build a wi-fi network by next year involving around 8000 Telstra-built hot spots and a further 1.2 million wi-fi access points provided by its customers nationally.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN: Visionstream scores $90m greenfields contract extension

NBN Co has handed Leighton Contractors subsidiary Visionstream a two-year contract extension for network design and construction in three states. The contract covers Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland and is worth $90 million.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra partners Fon to build one of the "World's largest" Wi-Fi networks

Telstra customers will soon have access to one of the world's largest Wi-Fi networks after Telstra launched a $100 million strategy to build 8000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.

Source: ARN

Mon, 19th May 2014

NBN Co open to buying iiNet's FttN network

NBN Co may consider buying iiNet's fibre-to-the-node network in Canberra, as part of the revised NBN rollout.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra to launch public wi-fi network

Telstra will tomorrow announce the rollout of a national public wi-fi network in order to boost the amount of coverage available to customers of its broadband network.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telcos see low adoption of data plans for tablets

Why buy mobile broadband when you can tether? That's the question many Australians are asking, according to a Telsyte report released today.

Source: Computerworld

NBN Co renews Service Stream greenfields contract

NBN Co construction partner Service Stream has inked a contract renewal with the government-owned company charged with rolling out the National Broadband Network.

Source: Computerworld

Fri, 16th May 2014

Faulty DHCP server downs iiNet NBN, IPTV services

Customers of iiNet’s NBN fibre broadband and iiNetTV services were unable to connect to the internet for five and a half hours on Friday due to a faulty DHCP server.

Source: iTnews Australia

MyBroadband cost up to $223k

The Department of Communications has spent AU$223,225 so far on the set up and running of its MyBroadband speed test and broadband information website.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Thu, 15th May 2014

SingTel reports 4Q net profit climb, revenue drop

Singapore telco clocks 4 percent increase in net profit but sees revenue drop of 8 percent, closing the year with S$3.65 billion in net profit and lower operating revenue of S$16.85 billion. Growth was muted by weakening regional currencies.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone scraps CIO role

Australia's third largest telco Vodafone will ditch the role of chief information officer after its current CIO Andrew Wiles departs from the role today.

Source: iTnews Australia

Senate votes to protect domestic submarine cables

A bill to afford Australian submarine fibre optic cables the same protection as fibre links to international locations is set to become law, after the proposed legislation passed the Senate today.

Source: iTnews Australia

Coalition seeks to break Conroy's NBN committee dominance

The Australian government wants a less Conrovian NBN committee with Coalition senators voting against extending the Senate Select Committee's life to the end of the first term of the Abbott government.

Source: ZDNet Australia