Broadband News
Fri, 14th Dec 2012
Australia says 'no' to amended international telecommunications regulations
Australia will not sign a revised international telecommunications treaty, as it has the potential to fundamentally change the way the internet operates, according to the Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.
Source: ARN
Exetel will consider acquisition offers
The CEO of internet service provider Exetel, Steve Waddington, says the ISP is open to being acquired if the right offer is made, with the company already receiving expressions of interest from other ISPs.
Source: Computerworld
Thu, 13th Dec 2012
TIO: complaints fall, but global roaming still an issue
Consumer complaints about mobile roaming charges have dropped, but the disputed amounts for complaints are increasing, with one customer lumped with a $147,908 bill after a European holiday, according to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
Source: Computerworld
ACMA seeks comment on global roaming standard to prevent bill shock
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is seeking comment on a draft international mobile roaming standard to prevent bill shock when consumers are overseas.
Source: Computerworld
How fast is the Kogan Mobile network?
Australian online store Kogan officially launched its own pre-paid mobile phone service yesterday called Kogan Mobile. It offers extremely competitive and cheap prices on pre-paid plans, but how fast are data speeds?
Source: ARN
Kogan enters mobile-services business through Telstra
The online retailer is offering up plans with up to 6GB of data allowance on a service that will be running on Telstra's 3G network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
What's great about the NBN
Industry professionals and politicians of both persuasions have united to celebrate the positive aspects of the National Broadband Network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 12th Dec 2012
Google Fiber US-wide rollout puts NBN in perspective
A report from Goldman Sachs, estimating that a nationwide rollout of Google Fiber will cost US$140 billion to complete in the US, puts Australia's fibre-to-the-premise NBN project in perspective.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra's five year deal with the ABC
Telstra has signed a five year deal with the ABC for the provision of managed data, mobile and voice services, as well as managing the corporation's transition to a digital video platform for the high speed distribution of media.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 11th Dec 2012
Internode launches home tech service
National broadband provider, Internode, has launched a home technical support service, with its so-called techii team available to visit your home to set up broadband connections, install modems, connect Internet-ready devices to broadband and to assist with getting the best performance from your broadband service.
Source: iTWire
Rio Tinto to deploy private 4G network
Rio Tinto has revealed it will build a private Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile network at its West Angelas iron ore mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mandurah and Belmont businesses to receive free NBN training
The federal government has awarded over $500,000 in funding to businesses in Mandurah and Belmont in Western Australia to encourage the take-up of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in the areas.
Source: Computerworld
Mon, 10th Dec 2012
ACMA wants telcos to push 4G in regional Australia
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is looking to facilitate regional rollouts of 4G in Australia by opening up more 1800MHz spectrum to the mobile telcos.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Red Bull targeting data hungry smartphone users with new unlimited plan
Energy drink company Red Bull has added a new post-paid plan to its mobile network that claims to offer the most competitive rate in the Australian market.
Source: ARN
Fri, 07th Dec 2012
Vocus buys up Ipera for AU$9.8M
Dark fibre and datacentre provider Vocus has bought Newcastle-based fibre and datacentre operator Ipera for AU$9.8 million.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co keeps initial products under ISP scrutiny
NBN Co has complied with a regulatory demand to guarantee it will not pull initial access products and services from sale without a minimum 12 months notice to ISPs.
Source: iTnews Australia
"Hyper transformation" to hit telcos in 2013
Next year, assuming we’re all still here, will be the year the telecom industry looks to reduce costs in an era of "hyper transformation". The rate of change will increase.
Source: iTWire
NBN trials multicast delivery in Rhodes
NBN Co has begun a six-month multicast trial covering 50 dwellings, including multiple occupancy dwellings, at a greenfields site in Rhodes, Northwest Sydney.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 06th Dec 2012
Internet use rockets as Australians' dependence grows
Australians, it seems, are increasingly addicted to the internet: a report from the communications regulator shows we are sucking down hundreds of thousands more terabytes of data than we were a year ago.
Source: SMH
NBN Co makes two senior appointments to its leadership team
NBN Co has made two new appointments, naming John Simon as head of product and sales, and Caroline Lovell to the NBN Co executive committee.
Source: ARN
Wed, 05th Dec 2012
Telstra phone-theft bill shock shows roaming still broken
The fact that someone could get AU$28,000 in charges in the time that it took Telstra to cancel a service, shows that global roaming is still broken.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus "world-first" trial to tackle network congestion during major events
Optus and its new partner Connectem are trialling cloud-based mobile packet core technology to rapidly deploy network capacity in response to customer demand.
Source: iTWire
Telstra customer's $28,000 phone bill horror
A man who lost his mobile phone, and told Telstra to cancel his account, still had $28,000 deducted from his credit card for calls he didn't make, after the telco delayed blocking his phone.
Source: SMH
iiNet to multicast IPTV over the NBN
iiNet has become the first Internet Service Provider certified to deliver multicast-based Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) services over the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: iTWire
iPrimus releases NBN fixed wireless pricing
iPrimus has connected its first customer to the National Broadband Network’s fixed wireless service in Warrenheip, Victoria.
Source: Computerworld
Tue, 04th Dec 2012
Optus turns to the cloud to boost mobile network performance
Optus is trialling technology from US based startup Connectem that enables it to virtualise, in the cloud, the software needed to operate its LTE network enabling extra capacity to be brought on to handle short term, localised peaks in network demand.
Source: iTWire
Optus reveals 4G plans for 2013
Telecommunications service provider, Optus, recently retraced its 4G 2012 milestones and briefly outlined its 4G plans for 2013 at a press event in Sydney.
Source: ARN
Optus to launch TD-LTE 4G network in Canberra
Optus plans to launch a new LTE network in Canberra, but it's noticeably different to the 4G network across the rest of Australia.
Source: ZDNet Australia
AFACT argues to keep copyright status quo
In a lengthy submission to the review on Australian copyright law, the content industry has argued against changing the Copyright Act to be more flexible in the digital age.
Source: ZDNet Australia
iiNet claws back AU$8 million from Telstra
The competition regulator has ruled that Telstra overcharged iiNet to the tune of AU$8 million in facilities access charges.
Source: ZDNet Australia