Broadband News

Thu, 31st May 2012

Telstra's Nine hopes put content in spotlight

Telstra is thinking about purchasing the Nine Network, and is currently going over the numbers with an investment bank advisor, according to The Australian. Does this put the cat among the pigeons for the competition watchdog?

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone, Virgin chase data-hungry Galaxy SIII users

Vodafone and Virgin Mobile will go head-to-head in a bid to lure data-hungry purchasers of the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus and NBN Co agreement makes business sense: Analyst

The $800 million agreement with Optus and NBN Co is a logical consequence of Australia's telecommunications infrastructure policy, according to independent telco analyst, Paul Budde.

Source: Computerworld

Australia's distant cloud

The National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide fat pipes into our homes, creating an appetite for more content, more quickly. Yet, 80 per cent of what we consume resides in the US. Won't we hit capacity problems?

Source: ZDNet Australia

Internet traffic forecast to reach 1.3 zettabytes in 2016

By 2016, 3.4 billion users will generate 1.3 zettabytes of Internet traffic, a four-fold increase over five years, network vendor Cisco predicts in its latest Visual Networking Index Forecast.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 30th May 2012

Telstra 4G spreads, Next G still king

Telstra has revealed that it is selling close to 40,000 "4G" devices per month, and has boasted that a new survey ranks Telstra's Next G network performance above that of Optus and Vodafone.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus-NBN tick against ACCC charter: Turnbull

Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the competition watchdog's pending approval of the $800 million deal between Optus and NBN Co that sees the telco shut down its hybrid fibre-coaxial (HFC) network, and move customers onto the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tasmanian homes connect to the NBN

iPrimus' first National Broadband Network (NBN) customer has been connected in Tasmania.

Source: Computerworld

Aussie bandwidth demand unchanged by SKA split

The long-awaited decision late last week to split the Square Kilometre Array project between rival bidders South Africa and Australia has not dampened bandwidth requirements for the local project.

Source: iTnews Australia

Tue, 29th May 2012

Rural councils playing chicken with NBN Co?

It wasn't entirely surprising to hear that the rural Golden Plains Shire Council had knocked back a proposed NBN Co wireless tower, but with a host of similar applications waiting in the wings, and councils under pressure from residents to push for a better solution, it also wouldn't be entirely surprising to find out that there was far more to the rejection than concerns that the towers are ugly.

Source: ZDNet Australia

MyNetFone to offer retail and wholesale NBN broadband

MyNetFone has received certification from NBN Co to provide both retail and wholesale broadband services over the NBN.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 28th May 2012

Hackett steps down from Internode

Internode founder Simon Hackett will step down from the Adelaide-based internet service provider to take up a position on the board of owner iiNet, as the companies merge into a single entity.

Source: iTnews Australia

Ozlog: Government pushes ahead with data retention plans

The federal government is pushing ahead with reforms that could see consumers' information kept on file for up to two years by internet service providers (ISPs).

Source: Computerworld

Simon Hackett leaves executive role at Internode, joins iiNet

Plenty of changes at Internode as it integrates with iiNet after being acquired for $105 million.

Source: ARN

Optus, Voda still lag on emergency alerts

Come next bushfire season, Telstra mobile subscribers may be the only ones to receive location-based disaster alerts when the service rolls out, as negotiations with Optus and Vodafone are ongoing.

Source: ZDNet Australia

ACCC approves Optus NBN deal

The competition watchdog has conditionally approved the $800 million customer migration deal between NBN Co and Optus, paving the way for the National Broadband Network builder to submit a revised corporate plan to Government this week.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACCC gives $800 million Optus-NBN Co deal the thumbs up

The consumer watchdog proposes to authorise the deal for Optus to migrate its HFC network customers onto the NBN after weighing up the pros and cons.

Source: ARN

Sat, 26th May 2012

NBN users opt for 100Mbps

Customers are picking the top fibre plan that is available on the National Broadband Network (NBN), more than any other plan, CEO Mike Quigley has revealed.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Fri, 25th May 2012

Govt urges telcos to team up against NBN Co

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has urged Telstra and the other telcos to join forces in their access negotiations with NBN Co.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co expands wireless trials

NBN Co has expanded trials of its fixed wireless network to Toowoomba and Tamworth for the first time as it looks to ramp up rollout of the network.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN's Tassie upgrade to cost $1.3 million

NBN Co will spend $1.3 million on replacing outdated network technology in 700 premises in Tasmanian trial sites for the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: ZDNet Australia

AARNet extends international academic network links

In a bid to increase collaboration between Australian and overseas universities, the Australian Academic Research Network (AARNet) has signed a partnership with NRENum.net, an international body of research and education networks that shares call routing to make free international voice/video calls.

Source: Computerworld

More NBN access for remote schools

More remote schools, health clinics and local government facilities will be able to access the National Broadband Network (NBN) through an established interim satellite service, the government says.

Source: ARN

NBN slows over inaccurate address data

NBN Co has been forced to invest in new systems to manually double-check inaccurate address data supplied by geospatial data provider PSMA Australia.

Source: iTnews Australia

Thu, 24th May 2012

Regional review highlights NBN, mobile

Poor mobile coverage across the nation is the biggest telecommunications concern for regional Australians, an independent review has found.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN cost-benefit analyses are so 2011

It wasn't too long ago that one of the rallying cries of the Coalition's NBN opposition was its insistence that Labor conduct a full cost-benefit analysis, comparing the government's fibre-to-the-premise (FttP) strategy with alternatives such as fibre to the node (FttN) and wireless.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Foxtel completes Austar takeover

Foxtel has completed its $2 billion takeover of regional counterpart Austar, and says pricing and billing procedures will not change for customers of either service.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN ISS could pose capacity constraints

A report by the Regional Telecommunications Review Committee (RTRC) has found the National Broadband Network (NBN) has found the Interim Satellite Service (ISS) could pose capacity constraints.

Source: Computerworld

35,000 accounts compromised in Telstra GameArena hack

Third-party company which runs the telco's GameArena and Game Shop sites fell victim to a hacking attack on Wednesday night.

Source: ARN

Hackers hit Telstra site: 35,000 affected

Telstra has been hit by a "hacking attack" affecting 35,000 customers, just a week after one of its IT staff told a security conference the telco was reviewing how it secured and stored customer information.

Source: SMH