Broadband News

Tue, 10th Dec 2013

NBN Co should focus on passing every premises: Hackett

New NBN Co board member Simon Hackett has said that while he prefers fibre to the premises as a network design for the NBN, the focus should be on getting high-speed broadband out to everyone in Australia.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Mike Quigley to Malcolm Turnbull: 'You don't have a minute to lose'

He may have been founding chief executive of the best-funded start-up in Australia, but Mike Quigley and his staff consistently refused to throw undue amounts of money at the national broadband network's problems just to make them go away.

Source: SMH

Telstra reconnects copper service in NBN connection stuff-up

Telstra has reconnected the copper line service for a customer it thought it had connected to the NBN fixed-wireless service but left disconnected for close to three months.

Source: ZDNet Australia

In-home FttN wiring testing needed, costly: NBN Co

NBN Co needs to test and fix customers' in-home copper wiring to get the best speeds from VDSL2, but it's the most expensive and least preferred of three options for in-home connectivity, the company's advice to the Coalition government warns.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone opens its Hobart call centre

Vodafone has opened its new operations and call centre in central Hobart.

Source: iTWire

Bridging our broadband gap

As debate of the NBN continues, new research report reveals the impact of next generation broadband for Australian households and businesses.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 09th Dec 2013

NBN politics hindered business investment in broadband

Uncertainty over the future of the National Broadband Network over the last three years has stopped businesses from investing in broadband, according to the CSIRO.

Source: ZDNet Australia

FTTN CVC revenue shortfall could keep FTTP prices high: NBN Co

Limitations on the products available over a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) NBN could reduce CVC revenues so much that the government would be forced to keep prices for FTTP high to compensate, a confidential NBN Co report has warned.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Coffs Harbour residents test NBN's impact

Australian researchers are hoping to see the firsthand impact of the national broadband network by studying two NSW north coast communities as they receive fast internet - or wait for it to arrive.

Source: iTnews Australia

FttN NBN needs customers more than coverage: NBN Co report

The NBN's self-funding nature means the Coalition government should prioritise boosting its subscriber numbers in new rollout areas over rushing to meet coverage objectives, a confidential NBN Co report has advised.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Training critical to Australia tapping broadband potential: CSIRO

Bringing faster broadband to Australia could disadvantage certain households and businesses if there is not sufficient education on how to take advantage of the increased speeds, according to a report by the CSIRO.

Source: Computerworld

iiNet's new NBN service to bring regional customers up to speed

Internet services provider iiNet has made its NBN 25/5 wireless broadband service available to customers in regional areas of Queensland and Tasmania.

Source: ARN

TPG buys AAPT

Telecom Corp has sold its Australian AAPT unit for $450 million to ASX-listed internet service provider, TPG Telecom, beating initial expectations of what the unit would go for.

Source: Computerworld

Vodafone opens temporary Hobart centre

Telecommunications provider Vodafone has opened the doors to its call centre on Elizabeth Street in Hobart, in which it will run its operations with 100 employees.

Source: ARN

Fri, 06th Dec 2013

Telstra gets 300Mbps speeds in expanded LTE-Advanced trial

Telstra has expanded its LTE-Advanced trial to new spectrum bands where the company was able to achieve peak download speeds of 300Mbps.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Senate to explore submarine cable security

A Senate committee will scrutinise planned changes to submarine cable laws in Australia in a bid to shore up security provisions for critical internet cable infrastructure.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN review released next week, says Turnbull

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he will release the NBN Strategic Review next week. But he did not say how much of it will be released.

Source: iTWire

Thu, 05th Dec 2013

Coalition NBN must be a monopoly to survive: NBN Co

Universal price guarantees, ensuring equal prices for regional and urban Australians under Labor's NBN model, could disappear if the government's fibre-to-the-node (FttN) services tried to compete against existing HFC networks, NBN Co has warned.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co reveals NT and WA wasteland

State-by-state breakdown of NBN Co's rollout statistics reveals the patchwork nature of the network's deployment

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co updates web roll-out information

NBN Co has reactivated roll-out progress on its website.

Source: ARN

AusBBS introduces SOHO NBN plans

Locally-owned startup, Australian Broadband Services (AuSBBS), is targeting small businesses with new National Broadband Network (NBN) plans priced at $100 and $155 per month.

Source: ARN

Wed, 04th Dec 2013

Turnbull agrees to release NBN review

Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed he intends to release a copy of the NBN strategic review, though it's expected to be heavily redacted.

Source: iTWire

NBN fibre upgrade 'essential'

NBN Co's long-term profitability will be restricted if the Coalition's proposed mix of cable, copper and fibre networks is not replaced with a full fibre network in coming years, government briefings reveal.

Source: SMH

NBN Co can't guarantee Libs' 50Mbps speed promise: report

The unpredictable performance of VDSL2 technology over Telstra's copper network means that NBN Co would be unable to guarantee customers the 50Mbps speeds promised by the new government, a leaked NBN Co report has warned.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Ookla Net Index delivers verdict on Australian Internet speed

Internet metrics company, Ookla, has ranked Australia 48th for download speed and 96th for upload speed in its most recent Net Index which covers tests recorded on Speedtest.net from June 3, 2011, to December 2, 2013.

Source: ARN

Tue, 03rd Dec 2013

Turnbull to defy Senate order to produce NBN report

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated he will not release the NBN Co strategic review on Monday, despite an order from the Senate to do so.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Massive Internode outage affects half of Victoria

A massive hardware fault has taken down service roughly half of Victoria's Internode ADSL customers, with still no ETA on a fix.

Source: iTWire

Nextgen trials 400Gbps Sydney-Canberra link

Nextgen Networks has trialled a 400Gbps link between two data centres in Sydney and Canberra to prove the future scalability of the company's intercapital network.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACCAN supports Telstra's move to kill the CAPTCHA

The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is backing Telstra's move to eliminate online CAPTCHA tests from its websites, and is encouraging other companies to follow suit.

Source: ARN

Is Coalition's NBN endgame up in the air?

It's still not clear just how the Coalition plans to meet its difficult FttN NBN goals. But as new information about its operating parameters continues to emerge, it's worth considering one way it might make everything work.

Source: ZDNet Australia