Broadband News

Wed, 09th Oct 2013

Visionstream hits back at Turnbull's NBN stop-work claim

NBN contractor Visionstream has responded to comments made by the communications minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday accusing it of having downed tools in Tasmania for at least two months.

Source: iTnews Australia

Australians pick cheaper broadband, quality over fast speeds

A poll by research group Roy Morgan has found that Australians overwhelmingly choose a cheaper deal for broadband rather than faster connection speeds, while an Australian Industry group survey shows businesses are more concerned about quality and reliability.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Back-to-the-future Coalition fails its own NBN tests: Husic

Labor MP Ed Husic blasts Coalition hypocrisy over NBN Co CEO appointment, retrograde NBN policy in wide-ranging address to telecommunications industry summit.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Australian mobile downloads surge

The amount of data downloaded on smartphones in Australia grew by nearly half last year. Most of the growth is from existing users.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 08th Oct 2013

Google Australia boss says NBN debate flawed

The new Aussie head of Google Maile Carnegie has given her first interview after taking up the role, venting frustration at the NBN debate and outlining Google's priorities as it attempts a closer relationship with the new government.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co put on notice to edit access undertaking

NBN Co will have the next five weeks to respond to a formal notice from the competition watchdog directing the network builder to alter the text of its special access undertaking.

Source: iTnews Australia

Turnbull claims NBN work stalled in Tasmania

Communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has hit out at Visionstream for allegedly slowing work on the national broadband network in Tasmania, due to issues with subcontractors and Telstra pit remediation work.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACCC submits changes to NBN Co SAU

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is putting forward a number of changes for consideration in the Special Access Undertaking (SAU) offered by NBN Co.

Source: ARN

Mon, 07th Oct 2013

Google backs project to slash Internet costs worldwide

Internet access can be expensive, especially in developing countries. Google is backing a new project that aims to change that.

Source: Computerworld

Thu, 03rd Oct 2013

Telstra IP network crashes, BigPond email goes down

Telstra has apologised to customers after BigPond suffered an email outage and the Telstra IP Telephony (TIPT) network crashed on Tuesday.

Source: Computerworld

AARNet's 8 Tbps fibre network to speed research

AARNet's new fibre network for science and research in SA and WA can hit transmission speeds of 8 Tbps.

Source: Computerworld

Turnbull appoints Switkowski as NBN chair

Communications minster Malcolm Turnbull has appointed former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski as chairman of the NBN Co board.

Source: ARN

Inside iiNet's subsea cable strategy

ISP iiNet is hedging its future international capacity bets on two prospective subsea cable projects, believing there's a 75 percent chance of at least one of them being built.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 02nd Oct 2013

AARNet connects remote observatory with super-speed fibre

AARNet and Cisco have deployed one of the world’s longest unregenerated high-performance optical links.

Source: iTWire

Half of all Aussies don't think malware will affect them: ACMA

The research might seem like Aussies are overconfident, but 90 percent actually have security software installed on their PC.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Journalist chasing Turnbull's little blue book

Malcolm Turnbull's 'blue book' - his full briefing on the communications portfolio - could soon be in the public arena thanks to a new crowdfunding campaign.

Source: iTWire

Telstra engineers work to fix BigPond email

Telstra is under pressure over a sustained outage to its BigPond email service that has seen some customers unable to send or receive mail since just before 2pm AEST yesterday.

Source: iTnews Australia

iiNet acquires Hawaiki submarine cable system

ISP iiNet have strengthened their ambition to build their own superfast broadband network with the acquistion of a segment of the Hawaiki submarine cable system.

Source: ARN

Tue, 01st Oct 2013

Turnbull to leave NBN cuts to new board

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that the new NBN board, not the government, will decide the number of job cuts at NBN Co.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus rationalisation continues - Woollies Mobile cut

Optus has cut Woolworths Mobile as a reseller, further consolidating its retails sales under the Optus brand.

Source: iTWire

Coalition anticipates only minor NBN rule adjustments

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull is backing the ACCC's move to finalise minimum terms for NBN-supplied services, believing the proposed terms won't require "material" alteration in future to conform with Coalition policy.

Source: iTnews Australia

Low income earners miss out on Internet access

Low income earners can’t afford an Internet connection, according to research commissioned by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

Source: Computerworld

Telstra debuts data sharing plans in Australia

Telstra has announced the launch of data sharing plans in Australia, enabling consumers to share data across multiple devices.

Source: ARN

Don't get roamsick - Vodafone adds Europe

Two months after Vodafone Australia announced its $5 a day international roaming deal, it has announced the plan's extension to 34 additional countries in Europe.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 30th Sep 2013

Tassie tech companies ask: where's our NBN?

Several IT businesses in Hobart are struggling to get connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN), including one startup that relocated back to Australia from the United States on the premise that the network would be available soon.

Source: Computerworld

Sun, 29th Sep 2013

iOS 7 slows the internet to a crawl

Apple has sold some 700 million iOS devices since 2007. Of that iOS 7 compatible devices comprise more than 155 million iPads (2nd generation onwards), a little over 350 million iPhone 4 or later, an unknown number of iPod Touch (5th generation) and Apple TV (released 30 September for 2nd generation onwards).

Source: iTWire

Sat, 28th Sep 2013

Turn back the nodes - an NBN conundrum

We would not recognise a bit of fibre-to-the-node if it poked us in the neck but the latest twist in the saga of the national broadband network has been an eye-catcher.

Source: SMH

Fri, 27th Sep 2013

IPv6 gathering momentum

We're continuing to use up the Internet's IPv4 addresses, but the next-generation IPv6 is finally beginning to pick up steam in no small part because of 4G smartphones.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Geoblocking here to stay: Viocorp

Geoblocking will continue to be used as long as studios rely on territory-based deals, according to Viocorp CTO Rachel Dixon.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Thu, 26th Sep 2013

Telstra takes aim at Defence spectrum portfolio

Telstra is manoeuvring to muscle in on Defence's spectrum assets in the belief Australia's military is too well-endowed with such assets.

Source: iTnews Australia