Broadband News

Fri, 12th Apr 2013

ACCC braces for poor-performing NBN services

The ACCC is bracing for complaints over the performance of internet and voice services as NBN connections become mainstream.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN street cabinets 'hideous'

About 60,000 cabinets that look like stretched refrigerators will be installed on footpaths under the Coalition's national broadband network, bringing criticism from urban designers.

Source: SMH

Thu, 11th Apr 2013

ACCC endorses network congestion pricing

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has welcomed the suggestion that ISPs begin charging customers for speeds, not just data.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Internode picks up customer satisfaction award, again

National ISP, Internode, has scored its third Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers award for Broadband ADSL services following its recent Roy Morgan Research Customer Satisfaction Home Internet Service Provider Award for 2012.

Source: iTWire

M2 buyout of EFTel inches closer

EFTel looks set to be integrated into the business of listed telco M2 Telecommunications after 90 percent of the company's shareholders today indicated they would accept the deal.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACCC head backs Telstra on tiered broadband debate

In a speech delivered today to the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Rod Sims, the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission endorsed Telstra's Kate McKenzie's call for a debate on tiered pricing for broadband customers based on the quality of service they desired.

Source: Computerworld

Turnbull says copper can do it

In a wide-ranging address at a Sydney conference Malcolm Turnbull has insisted that FTTN and copper cabling can deliver sufficient broadband speeds.

Source: iTWire

Will the Coalition's NBN be better for the bush?

Independent MP Tony Windsor has questioned whether the Coalition's NBN policy will provide better services for rural Australia. He is unimpressed with Opposition assurances.

Source: iTWire

A choice of two NBN's

The national broadband argument and what's on offer has come a long way since Kevin Rudd first put it on the political stage in 2007. At that time, the government promised to spend $4.7 billion on a network that would deliver and guarantee just 12Mbps.

Source: ARN

Wed, 10th Apr 2013

Libs kick NBN policy own-goal, but can Labor convert?

By announcing its policy, the Coalition has finally framed the NBN discussion in more realistic terms. It has also invalidated six years of its own arguments that Labor was spending too much on its NBN.

Source: ZDNet Australia

ACMA issues warnings for TCP code non-compliance

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a formal warning to Activ8me and Sure Telecom for failing to make critical information summaries available (CIS) available to customers.

Source: Computerworld

Slower NBN no good for research: minister

Australian medical and health researchers would be held back in their ability to work with overseas counterparts under the coalition's broadband plan, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says.

Source: ARN

Coalition takes NBN back to the drawing board

There are many flaws to the alternative plan for a national broadband network delivered by the Coalition yesterday.

Source: iTnews Australia

Coalition NBN plan won't help flats: SCA

Apartment dwellers in urban centres will be the big losers under the federal coalition's high speed national broadband network plan (NBN), the peak body representing strata sector says.

Source: Computerworld

Coalition expects Telstra to hand over copper network

The Federal Opposition says it does not expect to pay Telstra for part of its copper network but the telco may be contracted for maintenance under its broadband internet plan.

Source: ABC News

Coalition's NBN do-over won't be fast or cheap, says Internode's Hackett

It could take years and extra cash to Telstra for the Coalition to revamp the NBN into a fibre-to-the-node scheme, according to Internode founder Simon Hackett.

Source: Computerworld

Abbott denies coalition's NBN plan slower

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has denied the coalition's NBN plan will lead to slower internet speeds than under Labor's plan.

Source: Computerworld

Turnbull takes slow lane, but gets there first

The Coalition's cheaper and slower alternative to Labor's national broadband network has been labelled a ''nonsense'' by experts, who argue it will put Australia behind the rest of the world.

Source: SMH

Tue, 09th Apr 2013

Coalition unveils long-awaited NBN policy

Australia's Liberal Opposition announced its policy for building a national broadband network today, junking the ALP's fibre-to-the-home plan in the hope of connecting Australians at a lower cost.

Source: iTnews Australia

Industry peak bodies give Coalition NBN policy a tick

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and Internet Industry Association (IIA) today both welcomed the release of the Coalition's NBN policy, in an early vote of confidence for the alternative plan.

Source: iTWire

Missing data in Turnbull's second-best NBN

Shadow Communications Malcolm Turnbull summed up the dilemma the Coalition faces in developing its broadband policy yesterday when he told a well-known Irish joke that ends with "I wouldn’t start from here".

Source: iTnews Australia

Ludlam hits out at Coalition's NBN policy

Greens ICT spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam has condemned the Coalition’s alternative vision for the National Broadband Network.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra pushes the case for users paying for premium network quality

Telstra has continued to push its case for the possible introduction of new pricing structures for broadband users.

Source: Computerworld

Coalition's NBN to cost almost $30bn

Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that the Coalition's alternative to Australian Labor's National Broadband Network policy would cost almost AU$30 billion.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Coalition promises NBN-lite

The Liberal-National Coalition will present its updated broadband and NBN policies later this morning, but details of the plan have already emerged through leaks to select media.

Source: iTnews Australia

Coalition makes grand promises on NBN

The Opposition says its broadband policy will offer the same internet speeds as Labor's National Broadband Network (NBN), but will be rolled out much faster and at half the cost.

Source: ARN

The long and winding road to a Coalition NBN policy

The Coalition is reportedly set to release an alternative National Broadband Network (NBN) policy this week.

Source: Computerworld

Mon, 08th Apr 2013

Vodafone plans June 4G launch

Vodafone will launch its 4G service in a number of parts of Australia this June.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Conroy hits back at NBN cost claims

Communications Minister and NBN champion Stephen Conroy has rebutted Coalition claims that the real cost of building the NBN is set to blow out to $94 billion.

Source: iTWire

Vodafone prepares 4G switch-on

Vodafone has announced it will turn its 4G network on in June, claiming the new mobile service could be the fastest in Australia.

Source: iTnews Australia