Broadband News
Thu, 20th Feb 2014
iiNet profit jumps 19 per cent
iiNet is continuing to see the benefits of its acquisitions over the past five years, recording what it calls a record result across all key metrics for the first half of the 2014 financial year.
Source: ARN
Government to fast-track NBN connection to 700,000 premises
The government says it will soon start rolling out high-speed broadband connections to 700,000 premises that have no access to fixed services.
Source: SMH
Telstra believes its subsea cables can't be tapped
Telstra has backed the security attributes of its subsea cable network, expressing a belief that its network isn't vulnerable to unlawful interception.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 19th Feb 2014
NBN Co loses chief marketing officer
NBN Co's chief marketing officer Kieren Cooney has resigned from the company, executive chair Ziggy Switkowski announced to staff this morning.
Source: ZDNet Australia
iiNet plugs capex into IT, network upgrades
iiNet is investing over AU$15 million in the first half of this year in IT upgrades and improving network capacity.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra confirms 800 roles to go at Sensis
Telstra has confirmed 800 roles are facing the knife at its Sensis division as it prepares to undergo consultation with affected employees.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra wins court battle over Optus ads
Telstra has been successful in its legal challenge to Optus ads which compare the two companies' network coverage, even though the ads are factually correct.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 18th Feb 2014
Government has 'lowered the bar' on the NBN
Opposition communications spokesman Jason Clare says the Government is deliberately lowering expectations on the NBN so it will look good when it exceeds them.
Source: iTWire
Tasmania offers NBN Co free access to power poles for fibre
The Tasmanian government has committed to offering NBN Co free access to Aurora Energy's power poles as a last-ditch attempt to get fibre rolled out to the state’s citizens.
Source: iTnews Australia
Labor offers free access to Aurora infrastructure for NBN
If Labor wins the 15 March Tasmanian election NBN Co will have free access to the infrastructure of electricity network provider Aurora to roll out fibre, under a policy launched by Premier Lara Giddings today.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra, Optus, AJC back subsea cable bill
Australia's largest submarine telecommunications cable operators have unanimously backed proposed changes to cable protection laws currently being considered by the Senate.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vodafone to switch on largest international 4G roaming network for Aussies
Australian Vodafone customers will soon have access to the world's largest 4G international roaming network at no extra cost.
Source: ARN
NBN now a long, slow and unspectacular slog
It is fast approaching six months since the Coalition came to power and assumed responsibility for the national broadband network – one of the highest-profile issues in the last federal election campaign – and in the post-election period the temperature around the NBN debate has barely cooled.
Source: SMH
Tasmanian Liberal leader says NBN could cost the election
Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman has committed a Mitt Romney-style election gaffe, after allegedly telling a colleague the lack of a FTTP NBN in Tasmania could cost him the election.
Source: iTWire
How do we serve three billion new internet users?
If, as expected, over a billion new internet users make their first connections in India and China in the next dozen years, will the region have enough power to serve them content?
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 17th Feb 2014
Whatever happened to the IPv4 address crisis?
In February 2011, the global Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocated the last blocks of IPv4 address space to the five regional Internet registries. At the time, experts warned that within months all available IPv4 addresses in the world would be distributed to ISPs.
Source: ARN
Google working on 10Gbits/sec fibre connections
Google is looking for ways to boost fibre connections to 10Gbits/sec within three years.
Source: PC Authority
NBN Co to count on TransACT fibre for quick win
NBN Co, under Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, will soon count existing premises passed by the TransACT fibre network as 'premises passed', without requiring any additional construction work.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Government to let private sector decide vision for NBN-driven digital economy
The private sector, not the federal government, should determine the future economic benefits Australia can draw from digital technologies, according to Paul Fletcher, parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull.
Source: SMH
NBN Co blocks board minutes release: reputations at stake
Government-owned broadband builder NBN Co claims the reputations of its directors could be damaged if it revealed which of them turned up to a September board meeting.
Source: SMH
Fletcher flags telco red tape reduction
Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Communications Paul Fletcher has indicated that the government will scale back the amount of regulation in the telecommunications industry.
Source: ZDNet Australia
DDoS attacks are on the rise - and getting larger
Latest DDoS attack could signal more to come, security experts say.
Source: PC Authority
Sun, 16th Feb 2014
Maybe we did overestimate Labor's NBN cost, admits Government
Malcolm Turnbull's Parliamentary Secretary Minister Paul Fletcher has admitted that the Coalition's estimate of the cost of Labor's NBN was ‘perhaps a little high'.
Source: iTWire
Coalition reaffirms its rural NBN commitment
Federal secretary to the minister for communications, Paul Fletcher, has reaffirmed the Coalition Government's commitment to rural and remote access to the National Broadband Network (NBN), stating it continues to support the rollout of wireless and satellite technologies in less densely populated regions of Australia.
Source: ARN
Fri, 14th Feb 2014
Attorney-General George Brandis to target illegal downloads
The Federal Government is setting its sights on internet downloading and copyright, with Attorney-General George Brandis using a speech in Canberra to foreshadow copyright law changes.
Source: ABC News
New Zealand's NBN one-quarter completed
New Zealand's Ultra-Fast Broadband network project has now reached one quarter of its target of covering 75 percent of the population with fibre by 2019, but take-up is slow.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN panel questions role of ACCC in telecoms regulation
A review panel tasked with undertaking a cost-benefit analysis of the NBN has questioned whether the competition watchdog should be responsible for economic regulation of the telecommunications industry.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN rollout drives telco job opportunities amid downturn
The NBN roll out is a bright spot on a dreary job outlook for Telco workers, while IT vacancies have grown healthily to start the year.
Source: ARN
Stop the torrents: Australian government eyes copyright crackdown
Australian Attorney-General George Brandis has said the government is considering a three-strikes proposal to force ISPs to stop the boats of The Pirate Bay, and crack down on its users downloading copyright-infringing TV shows and films.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 13th Feb 2014
Tasmanians miss out on all-fibre NBN
NBN Co chairman Ziggy Switkowski has revealed not all Tasmanian premises will receive fibre under the new-look national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia