Broadband News

Wed, 02nd Oct 2013

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

Turnbull's tone change and the demise of the big red NBN button

Free of the hyperbole that goes with running a three-year election campaign, Turnbull's attitude to the NBN already seems very different.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Ziggy Switkowski to face challenges leading the NBN: academic

Former Telstra CEO Ziggy Switkowski is tipped to become NBN Co’s newest chief executive, but one academic has predicted he may struggle in the role.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra's NBN migration plan receives ACCC approval

Telstra measures to migrate customers to the fibre National Broadband Network (NBN) have been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Source: Computerworld

Telstra may cut more staff

Even more job cuts could be on the horizon at Telstra after a decision to fire more than 1000 workers.

Source: ARN

Wed, 25th Sep 2013

iiNet-owned ISPs revamp on-net ADSL plans

ISP iiNet and its subsidiary brands Internode, Westnet and TransACT have revised a range of on-net ADSL2+ plans with increased quotas or price cuts.

Source: iTnews Australia

Government to temporarily continue NBN rollout

More than 600,000 homes, businesses and schools across the country still have a chance of being connected to fibre-to-the-premises broadband despite the coalition's vow to abandon the former government's plan.

Source: ARN

Labor MP Ed Husic warns Coalition Government NBN will disadvantage regional Australia

Federal Labor MP Ed Husic is warning the Coalition's pro-competition stance on broadband could see people in regional areas miss out.

Source: ABC News

Tue, 24th Sep 2013

4K video streaming will choke Malcom's NBN

According to Netflix's US CEO, Reed Hastings – naturally a self-interested proponent of 4K video streaming – "with H.265 hardware compression 4K video streaming is not 'too bad' at 15Mbps but if you have around 50Mbps you will be fine."

Source: iTWire

NBN Co downgrades 2014 target as Turnbull commences revamp

The NBN Co has proposed to cut in half its most recent target forecast for premises past by 30 June next year, communications minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed.

Source: ARN

Malcolm Turnbull moves to put Coalition's stamp on NBN Co

An NBN Co commitment to begin connecting around 900,000 premises to high-speed internet access within a year has been put on hold by the Federal Government, pending a strategic review of the network.

Source: ABC News

NBN fibre keeps rolling until review: Turnbull

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has instructed NBN Co to continue rolling out fibre to the premises in existing construction locations until the 60-day review is completed.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co to roll fibre to 300,000 more premises

NBN Co will complete the rollout of fibre to 300,000 premises where building works are contracted, but there are no guarantees of fibre-to-the-premises work being completed beyond that.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN deal transfers network ownership: Telstra

Telstra CEO David Thodey has said that the AU$11 billion NBN deal is about moving the ownership of the fixed network to the government, regardless of whether it is fibre or copper.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus to accept phone trade-ins for credit

Optus will accept some smartphones as credit towards a new mobile contract, but customers won't know what they'll get for their phone until they take it to a store.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Coalition to reveal expectations for NBN Co

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull will release the text of an interim statement of expectations given to NBN Co this afternoon.

Source: iTnews Australia