Broadband News
Fri, 11th May 2012
Bourke one step closer to NBN - after a three-year wait
Bourke will be home to a satellite ground station to help it get on-board the National Broadband Network (NBN), but the remote NSW town will have have to wait up to three years until it is connected.
Source: Computerworld
Bourke to host NBN satellite ground station
The north-western NSW town of Bourke has been picked as one of 10 towns across Australia to host a satellite ground station as part of the national broadband network.
Source: SMH
Thu, 10th May 2012
ICANN targets May 22 for reopening gTLD application system
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) hopes to reopen on May 22 its system that will allow people to apply for a variety of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
Source: Computerworld
Time to come clean on NBN costs
NBN Co is presenting a new corporate plan at the end of this month. Could it be bad news for the government?
Source: ZDNet Australia
EFA demands data breach disclosures
Electronic Frontiers Australia is calling for organisations to be required to notify data breaches where personal details of individuals are compromised.
Source: iTWire
Optus TV Now case may reach High Court
The legal battle between Optus and the two major football codes, along with Telstra, over the Optus TV Now recording service may end up in the High Court.
Source: ARN
Can the NBN thrive in the age of austerity?
It was hardly a surprise that the Liberal Party's response to Labor's new Budget would mention the National Broadband Network (NBN) as an example of the financial chicanery of which it has been accusing Labor for years: "there would be no surplus if the NBN was on the books", the party's official budget reply noted. It is, like so much NBN opposition, like Groundhog Day all over again (last year's Budget also drove Malcolm Turnbull to slam Labor's NBN accounting "charade").
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN to blow out by $400m: Turnbull
Shadow communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has claimed that the 2012-13 budget, announced Tuesday night, has revealed that the price tag of the National Broadband Network (NBN) has jumped by as much as $400 million.
Source: Computerworld
Treasury offloads Budget web traffic
The Federal Treasury has credited its recently deployed content delivery network for keeping its website online during Budget frenzy this week.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 09th May 2012
NBN sinks surplus to $12b deficit: Turnbull
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has suggested that the 2012-13 Budget would actually blow out to a $12 billion deficit, if the National Broadband Network (NBN) was on the books.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telco watch: NBN rolls out, at last
In 2009, then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, with Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, by his side, announced the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN). Originally put up for tender to the private sector, the decision to make the lucrative - not to mention expensive - network a 100 per cent Government project has garnered much praise and criticism.
Source: ARN
NBN rollback to cost at least $1.8 billion
The Federal Government has revealed taxpayers would be liable for at least $1.8 billion, should the National Broadband Network project be culled in the future.
Source: iTnews Australia
Budget 2012: Govt pushes for productivity through NBN
The 2012 Federal Budget has been expectedly conservative with investments to IT, but the Government has poured money into driving productivity gains through services that would be delivered through the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ARN
ACCC: NBN won't kill internet competition
ACCC commissioner Ed Willett has refuted industry suggestions that the costs of providing services over the National Broadband Network will reduce competition for retail internet services.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 08th May 2012
Budget includes $20m for NBN ads
Budget papers have revealed the Australian Government is spending upwards of $20 million to counter right-wing opposition to the National Broadband Network with a series of media and marketing campaigns.
Source: iTnews Australia
Up to Speed: that holiday traffic
The average speed experienced by home broadband users slowed over Easter, as more users jumped online. Does this mean ISPs are struggling to cope with peak demand?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra still deciding fate of copper post NBN rollout
Despite signing a conclusive agreement with the national broadband network builder - the NBN Co - to decommission its copper access network in parallel with the NBN rollout, Telstra has yet to finalise plans for copper scrap that could be worth more than half a billion dollars for its bottom line.
Source: SMH
Mon, 07th May 2012
NBN Co picks Primus for voice trial
After strong lobbying, Primus has been selected by NBN Co to test a software fix that will allow retailers to provide voice-only services over the National Broadband Network's (NBN) fibre.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co prepares voice services for prime-time
NBN Co has revealed plans to automate user authentication for voice services in the coming weeks, in an effort to ramp up support for its dedicated VoIP platform.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co and Primus to test telephone migration software
Software would ease the copper to fibre fixed-line phone service migration process for NBN customers.
Source: ARN
ICANN goes slow on gTLD system repair
The organisation in charge of expanding the number of internet address suffixes - the ".com" part of domain names - is apologising for delays, but says that it's favouring "quality, not speed".
Source: ZDNet Australia
First NBN era ISP AusBBS signs Utilibill as cloud-based billing provider
Australian Broadband Services (AusBBS), the recently launched ISP that describes itself as the first new player to emerge specifically to exploit the NBN - with a cloud based business model - has signed up Australian billing technology developer Utilibill to provide its billing platform.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 04th May 2012
To ISPs: Expand in business segment or die in consumer space
ISPs need to target the business and mobile segment as the fixed-line consumer category becomes increasingly less profitable, according to Ovum research director and telco analyst, David Kennedy.
Source: ARN
Virgin shaves excess data fees for smartphones
Virgin Mobile has made a surprise move to reduce excess data usage fees on its postpaid mobile phone plans.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co eyes 100 GB satellite plans
NBN Co has indicated plans to build its long-term satellites with a capability of providing an average download capacity of up to 100 gigabytes to users.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 03rd May 2012
VPN boon as young Swedes seek anonymity
A survey by researchers from the Swedish Cybernorms group has found a surge in the use of paid online anonymity services by young people.
Source: iTnews Australia
Copyright lost in the cloud
KPMG reckons that cloud computing will add $3 billion to our GDP in 10 years. But will the opportunities of the cloud be constrained if we don't fix copyright law?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus and Vodafone strengthen shared network agreement
Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) have fortified their existing network partnership by agreeing to share even more mobile sites.
Source: ARN
Optus job cuts may affect services: Union
Plans to slash 750 jobs at Optus will result in poorer customer service and could lead to jobs being sent offshore, the communications union has warned.
Source: ARN
Wed, 02nd May 2012
Google proves mobile web can be SPDY
Google's new experimental protocol that theoretically transports web content faster than HTTP has attracted interest from users and developers - but the web giant has now come up with proof, not theories, that it will work for mobile devices.
Source: ZDNet Australia