Broadband News
Fri, 19th Oct 2012
Optus completes final stages of organisational restructure
Optus is completing the final stages of its corporate redundancy as part of a major organisational restructure which will see will see 750 staff let go, with an associated one off charge of about $37 million.
Source: ARN
4G wars: Can Vodafone make a 4G comeback?
Telstra and Optus have both begun delivering 4G services in Australia, but Vodafone, the number three telco, is yet to begin offering next-generation mobile technology.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co to expand access, identity systems
NBN Co has contracted systems integrator Qubit Consulting to extend the capability of its identity and access management systems.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 18th Oct 2012
Beyond the end of Telstra's nose
Telstra's AGM passed by peacefully this week, despite the absence of a clear long-term strategy and a short-term focus on results.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sydney City Council pushes for underground cables
The City of Sydney has voted to undertake a study into the feasibility of forcing power and telecoms utilities to bury their cables in conjunction with the NBN roll-out.
Source: iTnews Australia
IPv6 adoption by Internode customers increase
Internet service provider, Internode, has revealed that its customer base is increasingly adopting Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
Source: ARN
Google resists two thirds of Aussie takedown requests
Google has resisted nearly two thirds of Australian government requests to remove content from its massive online archive, the most recent Google transparency report reveals.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 17th Oct 2012
NBN Co under fire for take-up numbers
NBN Co has been criticised for including former Howard-government's Australian Broadband Guarantee customers in its number of active services on the NBN.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Best 4G prepaid and month-to-month plans
Like your mobile data fast and by the bucketload? Here are the top three 4G plans for smartphones.
Source: PC Authority
Innovations to help NBN Co find FTTH faults quicker and save energy
In separate announcements Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson have unveiled technologies that, respectively expedite fault finding and repair of FTTH networks like the NBN, and that could significantly reduce their energy consumption.
Source: iTWire
AFP denies seeking URLs for data-retention plans
The AFP has said that it is not seeking internet users' web-browsing history as part of a proposal to force ISPs to retain customer data for up to two years.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co defends rollout progress
NBN Co has maintained that it is on track to meet its target of 54,300 premises passed by the end of the year, despite the figure currently sitting at 32,295.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACMA fields more complaints on mobile interference
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has seen a steady increase in complaints about interference to mobile phone networks.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 16th Oct 2012
Telstra to maintain dividends
Telstra says it expects its dividend payments to remain flat in the current financial year despite forecasting earnings and income growth.
Source: ARN
By the numbers: Fixed broadband does the heavy lifting
The latest ABS figures should finally put to rest any crazy notion that wireless is killing demand for fixed broadband.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Do rural Aussies deserve a less-capable NBN?
Do rural Australians really want, expect, and deserve less from their broadband than those of us in the cities? Some private-sector telco execs seem to think so. But, of course they would.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Roma to be home to NBN satellite ground station
A satellite ground station for the National Broadband Network (NBN) will be built at Roma in Queensland.
Source: Computerworld
Mon, 15th Oct 2012
ABC iview: not for the masses
In August this year, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation sent a cease and desist letter to Sydney-based free software developer Jeremy Visser, asking him to remove from public access a program named Python-iView.
Source: iTWire
iiNet readies update to TransACT fibre prices
ISP iiNet has indicated it could unveil new fibre-to-the-home broadband plans for TransACT customers as early as this week, potentially resolving years of complaints.
Source: iTnews Australia
FTTN or FTTP not important for NBN, Vodafone says
Bill Morrow, CEO at Vodafone, has admitted the telco's network is not yet up to scratch and still needs improvements to meet customer needs.
Source: Computerworld
165,000 premises added to the NBN rollout
Thousands more homes added to the NBN map across nearly every Australian state - are you linked in?
Source: PC Authority
Cost of canning the NBN at least $2.3 billion
Taxpayers face an estimated $2.3 billion bill should the National Broadband Network be terminated, a half billion dollar increase on figures from May, according to the Department of Broadband's annual report.
Source: iTnews Australia
Sun, 14th Oct 2012
VHA to sit at digital dividend auction table
Vodafone Hutchison Australia does not need expensive digital dividend spectrum for its mobile network, but won't sit outside the spectrum auction process entirely, according to CEO Bill Morrow.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 12th Oct 2012
Opinion: Telcos losing billions in SMS revenue? Get over it
Free messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are supposedly costing the telcos billions, but how much have they made by charging for a service that costs them practically nothing to begin with?
Source: PC Authority
Broadband spectrum auctions a 'mistake'
Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer says the money can be better used by telcos to provide wider, better connectivity to rural communities and spur societies to advance through tech.
Source: ZDNet Australia
A third of the world's population has internet: UN
More than a third of the world's population is online while mobile phone uptake increased by more than 600 million in 2011 to around six billion, according to a UN agency.
Source: SMH
Thu, 11th Oct 2012
Internode bags A/NZ Internet award
Internode recently collected an A/NZ Internet award (ANZIA) for its pioneering work to deliver Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to Australia.
Source: ARN
Versus: Telstra 4G versus Optus 4G
Next time you need to download something quickly, you're better off doing it over 4G than your home's ADSL2+ connection.
Source: PC Authority
Internet TV now "mainstream" in Australia - but what about piracy?
One quarter of Australians have watched TV over the Internet, says a report by ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority), That includes catchup viewing like the ABC's iView, but true iPTV is still not widely used. And the report ignores illegal downoads.
Source: iTWire
Huawei could be blocked from Canadian network
Canada indicated strongly on Tuesday it would exclude Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei from helping to build a secure government communications network because of possible security risks.
Source: iTnews Australia