Broadband News
Mon, 06th Dec 2021
Gov plots new telco data access or surveillance powers for ATO, Border Force, others
The federal government is considering giving Border Force, the tax office and other agencies either access to telecommunications data or other electronic surveillance powers under reforms planned to be brought before parliament in 2023.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 02nd Dec 2021
Aussie Broadband makes formal $344m bid for Over The Wire
Aussie Broadband has made a formal proposal to buy Over The Wire for $344 million, to be paid out in a mix of cash and shares.
Source: iTnews Australia
Aussie Broadband stakes $390M on Over the Wire
Aussie Broadband looks set to fork out $390 million for cloud, IT and telco services provider Over the Wire in one of the biggest channel deals of the year.
Source: ARN
We fact checked Anthony Albanese on Australia's broadband speed rankings. Here's what we found
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says Australia's has slipped to 59th in the world in the average broadband speed rankings. Is he correct? RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.
Source: ABC News
Wed, 01st Dec 2021
NBN 1000 (Ultrafast) plans: Fastest internet in Australia
NBN 1000 is the fastest speed tier available on the NBN, but is it worth it? Can you even get it? Find out.
Source: WhistleOut
Tue, 30th Nov 2021
Optus starts its own 5G standalone trials
Optus has started “limited trials” of 5G standalone services ahead of a planned commercial launch of the network in 2022.
Source: iTnews Australia
Aussie Broadband and YourDC partner for Adelaide dark fibre build
Telecommunications provider Aussie Broadband has teamed up with data centre operator YourDC to roll out 112km of dark fibre across Adelaide.
Source: ARN
Mon, 29th Nov 2021
Telcos get new powers to block malicious SMS scams at scale
Australian telcos have been handed new powers to prevent malicious SMS messages from being sent, by automatically detecting and blocking them at a network level.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 19th Nov 2021
When NBN promo deals end, customers and telcos revert to old speeds
The latest edition of the NBN Wholesale Market Indicators Report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed the number of connections on NBN's 250/25Mbps Superfast and 500-1000Mbps/50Mbps Ultrafast plans has dropped by nearly 200,000 lines.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra vs. Optus 5G home internet plans: How do they compare
How do Telstra and Optus 5G home internet plans compare?
Source: WhistleOut
TPG Telecom makes fresh play to be a 'more robust competitor to NBN Co'
TPG Telecom has set in motion a plan that would release it from rules that curtailed its fixed-line infrastructure ambitions and "likely" make it a “more robust competitor to NBN Co”.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 18th Nov 2021
TPG Telecom paves way for functional separation
Australia’s national competition watchdog is seeking feedback on a proposed joint functional separation of TPG Telecom.
Source: ARN
Labor to give 30,000 families free NBN for a year
Federal Labor has pledged to fund an NBN service for 30,000 families currently without a home internet connection for a year, while a longer-term strategy is created.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 17th Nov 2021
The NBN has been 'fully operational' for almost a year, but some Australians still don't have reliable internet
Fixed wireless connections are typically used in regional and rural areas, but many Australians are still struggling with access and reliability issues.
Source: ABC News
Labor commits to making AU$2.4b 'investment' to extend on-demand FttN upgrades
The Australian Labor Party has said that should it win government at the next election, it would be spending AU$2.4 billion to extend the existing NBN fibre to the node (FttN) upgrade plan to a further 1.5 million premises.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vandals topple second Vic NBN wireless tower in four years
Saboteurs have caused an NBN fixed wireless tower in Victoria’s Gippsland region to collapse, the second such incident in the area in the past four years.
Source: iTnews Australia
You now have three new choices for 5G home internet plans
Following on from TPG and Vodafone launching 5G home internet plans, sibling brands iiNet, Internode, and Westnet have followed suit. The trio are all offering identical plans, but the pricing varies slightly from TPG and Vodafone's offering.
Source: WhistleOut
TPG Telecom and Samsung complete 5G virtualised RAN trials with 26GHz mmWave
TPG Telecom and Samsung Electronics Australia have expanded their 5G mmWave technology collaboration to more trial sites after successfully completing the first 5G virtualised, radio access network (vRAN) trials with 26GHz mmWave in Australia.
Source: iTWire
Fletcher says, Labor can't be trusted on the NBN
Based on the reported leaked Labor NBN policy, the Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, Paul Fletcher issued a statement.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 16th Nov 2021
Labor's early election pledge to offer fibre to "nearly 7 in 8" FTTN users
Federal Labor has pledged an extra $2.4 billion of NBN upgrades if it wins the 2022 election, enabling 90 percent of Australians in the fixed line footprint to order gigabit speed services by 2025.
Source: iTnews Australia
Analyst puts Labor NBN plan in same basket as govt efforts
Labor's announcement that it would provide $2.4 billion for an additional 1.5 million homes to be provided with fibre if it were elected to office has been dismissed as "a continuation of the muddling-on process seen over the last decade."
Source: iTWire
NBN providers with 4G backup
NBN outages can and will happen, but there are a number of providers that now offer NBN plans with 4G backup.
Source: WhistleOut
Vodafone triples 5G coverage, but there's a catch
Vodafone today announced it has tripled its 5G coverage, hitting its target of bringing the next generation network to 85% of the population in ten of the nation's biggest cities. These include Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong, and the Central Coast.
Source: WhistleOut
Vodafone launches unlimited data 4G Home Internet
Vodafone launched a new 4G Home Internet plan with unlimited data, for existing mobile customers.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 10th Nov 2021
Get a $1,000 gift card if you sign-up to a JB Hi-Fi SIM-only mobile plan
JB Hi-Fi is offering customers as much as a $1,000 gift card if they swap to Telstra via one of its SIM-only mobile plans. $69 per month will get you an 80GB allowance and a $400 gift card, or $99 per month will get you 200GB and a $1,000 gift card.
Source: WhistleOut
NBN Co caps fibre upgrade trial numbers to a maximum of 525 premises
NBN Co has substantially revised down the number of premises that will actually participate in its full fibre upgrade trials from now through mid-March, clarifying that the number is capped at 525.
Source: iTnews Australia
Cheap nbn™ plans for every household
Looking to get the NBN on a budget? The good news is there are some cheaper plans on the market that you can pick from.
Source: WhistleOut
Telstra boosts mobile site power resiliency ahead of disaster season
Telstra has boosted battery back-up power at 341 mobile tower sites in regional Australia, extending power reserves from three hours up to 12 hours for some of the country’s most remote towns. The upgrades were made with assistance from the Australian Government’s Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters (STAND) program.
Source: iTWire
Malcolm Turnbull needs to explain dodgy cut-down NBN rollout figures
Malcolm Turnbull has some explaining to do about the costs of the NBN this morning, after Guardian Australia reported figures hidden in a report commissioned by him showed a full-fibre NBN or a multi-technology mix would have cost about the same.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 09th Nov 2021
NBN Co puts broadband tax target back on cellular, LEO operators
NBN Co has renewed calls to have 5G fixed wireless operators pay the $7.10 per user per month broadband tax, while also flagging the possibility of charging low earth orbit (LEO) satellite operators as well.
Source: iTnews Australia