Broadband News

Fri, 27th Jul 2012

Telstra ups fixed prices, axes 30-second mobile rate

Access fees for some of Telstra's fixed-line phone plans will increase, and mobile calls will be charged differently.

Source: ZDNet Australia

AAPT hack exploited 'very old' Cold Fusion hole

The vulnerability used by Anonymous hackers to breach and obtain data from AAPT and Queensland Government websites was "very old", sources have told iTnews' sister site SC Magazine.

Source: iTnews Australia

MyNetFone CEO says NBN prices will rise

Rene Sugo, CEO of VoIP services company and ISP MyNetFone, believes RSPs will increase their National Broadband Network (NBN) prices once interim points of interconnect (POI) are removed, because current prices are unsustainable.

Source: Computerworld

Google Fiber trumps NBN speeds, pricing

Google has announced plans and pricing for its 1 gigabit fibre broadband service in the US that is cheaper and faster than NBN plans on offer in Australia today.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra changes post-paid contracts

From October 1, Telstra will change the charging blocks on post-paid mobile phones from 30 seconds to one minute

Source: PC Authority

Thu, 26th Jul 2012

Multicasting in a unicast world

If we're all watching on-demand videos, should we care how expensive NBN Co's multicast product is?

Source: ZDNet Australia

Anonymous threatens huge ISP data release

Although threatened for a 9pm (AEST) release, we have not yet seen the ISP usage data file threatened to be released by the hacktivist group Anonymous.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co opens app testing sandpit

NBN Co has begun 'matchmaking' developers of bandwidth-hungry software with internet service providers offering access to the wholesaler's production 'sandpit'.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 25th Jul 2012

Hacker threatens to release stolen ISP data

Hackers claiming to have stolen 40GB of data from one of Australia's largest internet service providers are threatening to publish part of the cache in protest against the nation's proposed data retention laws.

Source: iTnews Australia

Qld councils struggle to make fibre NBN a reality

Barcoo and Diamantina shires aren't happy with the satellite coverage their towns will receive from the NBN, and are trying to raise the funds to enable 700km of fibre to be laid.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Local product certified for NBN Co integration

Telecommunications IT provider DGIT's Telflow B2B Gateway has been used to gain certification for the integration between Nextgen and NBN Co.

Source: iTWire

Federal Government invests $5m for NBN-related council services

The Federal Government is investing over $5 million to help 14 local governments utilise National Broadband Network (NBN) enabled services.

Source: Computerworld

Queensland shires demand modern communication

Two far-west Queensland mayors fear their towns will wither and die without modern telecommunications.

Source: ARN

Tue, 24th Jul 2012

Broadcom plans fast 802.11ac Wi-Fi for phones early next year

Broadcom plans to bring IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi to smartphones starting early next year, using a chipset announced on Tuesday that the company said can deliver about 300Mbps (bits per second) of real-world speed.

Source: ARN

iiNet integrates Internode global network

Internet service provider iiNet has unveiled plans to discard existing domestic agreements for international bandwidth over the next 12 months in a bid to build its own network outside Australia.

Source: iTnews Australia

iiNet ups Southern Cross capacity from 20Gbps to 200Gbps

iiNet is splashing out on international cable capacity, forging a deal to provide it with 10 times more capacity from Southern Cross Cables.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Yellow jersey for highest SBS Tour De France online audience!

Australia's multicultural Special Broadcasting Service, or SBS, has announced that it has recorded its highest ever online audience for its 2012 Tour De France website.

Source: iTWire

Misled TPG unlimited customers granted free exit

TPG customers that signed up to its $29.99 unlimited ADSL2+ plans can exit the contracts "without penalty" if they feel misled by the terms and conditions.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vodafone prepares August end to 3

Vodafone Hutchison Australia is on track to migrate its remaining 3 Mobile customers across to its primary 3G network by the end of August but chief executive Bill Morrow has warned of potential network contention issues in the lead-up to the switch.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 23rd Jul 2012

Optus 3G outage hits national users

Optus engineers have worked to fix core routers in the Global Switch facility in Sydney after an outage took out mobile data access to thousands of services nationally today.

Source: iTnews Australia

VHA loses $262.6m and 178,000 customers

Hutchison Telecommunications Australia (ASX: HTA) has reported a $131.3m operating loss for the half-year to 30 June 2012 from its 50 percent stake in VHA, putting that company's total loss for the half year at $262.6m a 68 percent increase on the corresponding previous half year.

Source: iTWire

Coalition's NBN cheaper? No says MyNetFone CEO

MyNetFone's CEO has rebuked Malcolm Turnbull's claims the Coalition could deliver a cheaper model for the National Broadband Network (NBN), stating the cost of maintaining the copper network will add to a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) deployment.

Source: Computerworld

30 percent of NBN 'Coalition-proof' says Conroy

Communications minister Stephen Conroy has told Channel Ten that about 30 percent of the NBN, including the entire satellite and wireless components, would survive a Coalition election victory, so long as a Coalition Government honoured existing contracts.

Source: iTWire

Sun, 22nd Jul 2012

Tough times for Vodafone as revenues decline

Vodafone is facing tough trading times in almost every market, with trading in emerging markets not making up for poor performances from the company’s European markets. The group reports worldwide revenues declining by 7.7 percent, according to Ovum, and in Australia, as iTWire reports, there’s a pessimistic outlook for the group’s joint venture operation.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 20th Jul 2012

No-frills NBN provider aims for the tech savvy

A group of telco consultants and engineers in Victoria is planning to launch a not-for-profit internet service provider in an attempt to provide cheap access to the National Broadband Network for like-minded people.

Source: iTnews Australia

Turnbull slams ACCC approval of Optus and NBN Co agreement

Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the approval of the $800 million agreement with Optus and NBN Co which will see Optus decommission its HFC network.

Source: Computerworld

Optus' HFC cable customers to migrate to NBN

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has authorised the agreement with NBN Co to migrate Optus' Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) cable customers to the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: ARN

Thu, 19th Jul 2012

ACCC approves Optus HFC deal

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved decommissioning Optus' Hybrid fibre-coaxial network, on the grounds that the competitive benefits soon won't be relevant to the NBN.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Australia gets low broadband ranking

Australia's poor ranking in an international broadband report underpins the need for the national broadband network (NBN), Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says.

Source: ARN

Australia slips in broadband rankings

Australia has slipped in the latest global rankings on fixed line broadband penetration, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Source: iTnews Australia