Broadband News
Mon, 17th Mar 2014
Aldi halves call inclusions on $35 mobile plan
Low cost MVNO Aldi will retire its ALDImobile $35 plan, which comes with 2500 call minutes and 2.5GB, on April 2. Replacing the plan is the company's new XL plan which offers half the minutes and less than half the data.
Source: ARN
Turnbull supports new governance model for DNS
Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has described as a "momentous day in the history of the Internet" the announcement by the US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration that it will end its role in the Domain Name System.
Source: Computerworld
Vodafone survey backs NBN mobile infrastructure
Vodafone says a poll conducted by Empirica Research on behalf of the telco reflects popular support for using National Broadband Network infrastructure to boost mobile coverage in regional Australia.
Source: Computerworld
Internet to move from US control
The US Government has announced it will cease to be a party to Internet regulation, with control passing to a 'multistakeholder community'. The US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) says it will transition key Internet domain name functions to the "global multistakeholder community."
Source: iTWire
Fri, 14th Mar 2014
Know your mobile phone rights, says consumer watchdog
It is World Consumer Rights Day tomorrow and it has prompted Australia's consumer watchdog to alert Aussies that they should make sure they understand their consumer rights, particularly when buying and using their mobile phones.
Source: iTWire
Music Rights Australia backs Brandis' copyright crackdown
Website blocking, download speed throttling, and making ISPs liable would go a long way toward reducing copyright infringement in Australia, according to Music Rights Australia.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone offering more 4G data, too
In another sign of a rebound Vodafone today announced it is increasing data allowances for its mobile broadband products, offering Australian customers 12GB of mobile data for $65 per month.
Source: iTWire
Telehealth doesn't need fibre, the technology already exists: Experts
The fundamental problem with telehealth is not a lack of NBN connectivity; it's culture, intransigence, and needing to change the way the health sector does business, said CSIRO chief scientist professor Branko Celler.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Amcom offers new AWS Cloud service
Australian Telco Amcom will now offer connections to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect service.
Source: ARN
Will I get fibre, cable or satellite under NBN? You'll know later this year, says Malcolm Turnbull
Australians should know what type of technology will be used to connect their homes to the NBN no later than December, Malcolm Turnbull says.
Source: SMH
Vodafone continues 4G push
Vodafone is banging its 4G war drums ever more loudly saying it is adding a hundred 4G base stations a month. It also still says it has the fastest network.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 13th Mar 2014
What a croc: NT Police data retention proposal 'overreach'
Retaining a record of every website a customer visits and all other metadata is incompatible with the new Privacy Act, according to iiNet.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mobile users 'wasting their data allowance'
Most Australian mobile phones users are not using all their data allowances. This means they are effectively gifting telcos hundreds of millions of dollars, say consumer organisations.
Source: iTWire
Web founder Berners-Lee calls for online bill of rights
The man many credit with inventing the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee, last night called for a bill of rights to protect freedom of speech and users' rights on the internet following leaks about government surveillance of online activity.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN: Productivity Commission criticises lack of cost benefit analysis
The initial decision to proceed with constructing the National Broadband Network without a "thorough analysis of its costs and benefits" is an example of "inadequate project selection leading to costly outcomes for some users and taxpayers in general," argues a two-volume draft report on public infrastructure issued by the Productivity Commission today.
Source: Computerworld
New bosses for Telstra's media and networks groups
Telstra has expanded its executive committee with the appointment of Mark Buckman and Mike Wright as managing directors of its media and marketing, and networks groups, respectively.
Source: ARN
Wed, 12th Mar 2014
Telstra loses case against ACCC, Vocus Communications and iiNet subsidiaries
Telstra (ASX: TLS) has lost its Federal Court case against the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Vocus Communications (ASX: VOC) and iiNet (ASX: IIN) subsidiaries over an exchange and underground duct access pricing increase dispute.
Source: Computerworld
Conroy wants answers on NBN Co leak
Former communications minister Stephen Conroy wants NBN Co to track down anonymous staffers who attacked him in the media.
Source: Computerworld
TPG rollout threatens NBN financial health: Ziggy Switkowski
The national broadband network's bottom line could be severely impacted by competition from existing fibre-to-the-basement internet providers, NBN Co's chairman Dr Ziggy Switkowski told a senate hearing on Wednesday.
Source: SMH
NBN Co mulls fibre to the apartment
NBN Co has outlined plans to run fibre networks to individual units in apartment blocks, in an effort to combat the potentially "severe" impact of the fibre-to-the-basement efforts of TPG and Telstra.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN starts high rise trials in Melbourne
The first high rise apartments have been connected to the national broadband network using the cheaper, multi-technology approach taken by the Coalition government.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co snares four telcos for Melbourne pilot
NBN Co has signed four telcos to take part in a Fibre-to-the-Building pilot in Melbourne.
Source: ARN
Toowoomba transmission trial touches terabit/s
A transmission trial using a 1,066 kilometre fibre-optic ring on NBN Co's transit network reached one terabit per second speeds, the network builder and its equipment vendor Coriant said yesterday.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 11th Mar 2014
Telstra breaches privacy of thousands of customers
Telstra has been found to have broken the law when it breached the privacy of 15,775 customers between February 2012 and May 2013.
Source: SMH
Mon, 10th Mar 2014
Vodafone takes fight to Telstra over regional mobile funding
The battle over the Federal Government's AU$100 million funding for regional mobile coverage blackspots heats up.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Yet another NBN inquiry - this one's after Conroy's blood
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced another NBN inquiry - the fifth - on how Labor planned it. What will it achieve?
Source: iTWire
Vandals break Basslink fibre cable
Vandals are being blamed for damaging a terrestrial fibre optic cable owned by Basslink Telecoms, resulting in almost 20 hours of internet connectivity problems for Tasmanian residents over the weekend.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 07th Mar 2014
Turnbull to audit the conception of Labor's NBN
The Coalition Government has announced it will conduct a four-month audit into the process by which the previous Labor government conceived of the national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra reveals volume of data requests from law enforcement
Telstra has released its first ever transparency report, taking the lead from the likes of Google, Apple and Facebook to detail the volume and nature of requests for customer data it receives from Australian law enforcement and regulators.
Source: iTnews Australia
"NBN-ready" phone helps SMEs in cost war
Commander has launched its "NBN-ready" phone in a bid to help small to medium businesses in the war against costs.
Source: ARN