Broadband News
Wed, 02nd May 2012
Telstra flexes muscles over NBN rollout
Telstra is in a better position to exploit the national broadband network than other carriers because of its national retail presence and experience connecting 10,000 Brisbane households to fibre-optic cables, chief executive David Thodey says.
Source: SMH
Conroy's pricing inquiry a waste of time?
I was pretty excited when I heard about the Australian government's inquiry into price discrepancies between what Australians are charged for tech versus what the rest of the world pays for the same products. Unfortunately, since then, I've been fed a dose of reality.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Conroy 'comfortable' with filter recommendations
Communications minister Stephen Conroy has indicated initial acceptance of key recommendations made by a review of the Australian classification system that is likely to have an impact on the Federal Government's mandatory internet filtering proposal.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus cuts 750 jobs in restructure
Most of the roles to be made redundant will be in senior and middle management as well as operations, back office, and support divisions.
Source: ARN
Tue, 01st May 2012
Conroy to visit Google in data centre push
Communications minister Stephen Conroy will visit Google's US headquarters in coming weeks in an attempt to push discussion around Australia as a potential cloud hub.
Source: iTnews Australia
Internode begins DSL blackspot migration
Internode has extended the reach of its broadband network overnight, allowing more customers to directly access its cheapest 'Easy Broadband' plans for the first time.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 30th Apr 2012
Police find 15,400 Aussie credit cards on hacker forums
More than 15,000 Australian credit cards worth an estimated $3.75 million in total were salvaged from underground hacker forums in a global police sting.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus offers free broadband with mobile
Over the weekend, Optus announced a new offer: free fixed broadband with some of its mobile plans.
Source: ZDNet Australia
yARN: It's time for AFACT to accept the facts
Recently, the highest court in Australia unanimously dismissed AFACT's appeal that ISP iiNet was accountable for the bittorrent file-sharing occurring on its network. It was the final skirmish in the entertainment industry's three-year fight to try and change the role of the ISP in its fight against piracy.
Source: ARN
Google Drive will help kill Microsoft Office
Google's hard drive in the sky, Google Drive, is a big threat to other cloud storage products like Dropbox and Box. But it's also a stab straight at the heart of Microsoft's mainstream business software, Microsoft Office.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sun, 29th Apr 2012
Conroy announces tech price inquiry
Australian Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy has announced a parliamentary inquiry into high product prices in the Australian IT and technology sector.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 27th Apr 2012
Niche satellite providers fear backhaul squeeze
Small satellite service providers have urged the competition watchdog to rethink its 121 point of interconnect model for the National Broadband Network amid fears the cost of leasing backhaul to regional nodes could squeeze them out of the market.
Source: iTnews Australia
We'll do better on towers: Telstra
Telstra admits it needs to improve its rollout of new mobile phone transmitters, amid concern on electromagnetic radiation.
Source: The Australian
Federal Court overturns Optus TV Now decision
The Federal Court has overturned a decision that exempted Optus' TV Now free-to-air recording system for mobiles from the Copyright Act.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 26th Apr 2012
ACCC fines TPG $13K for misleading ads
TPG has paid $13,200 in fines to a consumer regulator "tired" of having to pull up telcos for misleading advertising.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus switches on 4G LTE network
Optus has launched its 4G LTE network across areas in Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie.
Source: ARN
IPv6 a major battle for years to come: APNIC
The transition to internet protocol version 6 will remain a major battle for network providers in the next five years, according to the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre's chief scientist, Geoff Huston.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus ready to enter 4G fray
OPtus is expected to today flick the "on" switch to its new 4G mobile network in Newcastle, opening up the latest battleground to win customers in the highly competitive market.
Source: The Australian
Wed, 25th Apr 2012
Which free online cloud storage is best?
The cloud storage wars are escalating as Google, Microsoft and Apple (among others) vie for your files. But which to choose?
Source: PC Authority
Tue, 24th Apr 2012
New Jabiru satellite contract takes total to $571 million
Pre-launch contracts for the Jabiru satellite to be launched by Australian satellite company, NewSat, have rocketed upwards to US$571 million with today’s signing of a new $13 million contract with a United States-based satellite communications company.
Source: iTWire
High cost of mobile calls to 1800/ & 13 numbers set to fall
The ACMA is moving to fulfil the commitment it gave last October to make calls to 1800 numbers from mobile phones free and calls to 13 and 1300 numbers the same price as calls to standard fixed line numbers.
Source: iTWire
Telstra to double 4G LTE coverage in Newcastle
Telstra has embarked on the second stage of its 4G network rollout in Newcastle, New South Wales.
Source: ARN
Plunder downunder: How to read the iiTrial piracy verdict
Legal experts have questioned the extent to which the High Court of Australia's decision in the copyright stoush between ISP iiNet and the film industry sets a new legal precedent for future copyright infringement cases.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 23rd Apr 2012
iiNet wards off AFACT, but what next?
Big Content's attempt to make internet service provider (ISP) iiNet responsible for its customers' copyright infringements has been soundly defeated, but the battle won't end there.
Source: ZDNet Australia
iiNet decision not a free pass: experts
The iiNet High Court copyright decision doesn't give internet service providers (ISPs) a free pass on authorisation of copyright infringement over BitTorrent, legal experts have stated.
Source: ZDNet Australia
First 'NBN era' telco, Ausbbs, secures funding
Australian Broadband Services (Ausbbs), the first new player to emerge specifically to exploit the NBN, has secured funding and announced plans to launch trial services in August.
Source: iTWire
Telstra investigates growth areas
Telstra is investigating new growth areas opening up because of the National Broadband Network (NBN) such as Cloud computing, media asset management and expansion across Asia.
Source: Computerworld
Fri, 20th Apr 2012
Industry welcomes iiNet win
ISPs and industry groups have welcomed the High Court decision to dismiss the appeal from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) against iiNet for copyright infringement.
Source: Computerworld
iiTrial: iiNet threatens walk away from copyright talks
iiNet chief executive Michael Malone has threatened to walk away from closed-door discussions with the film industry over a potential industry code to minimise copyrihgt infringement in light of this morning's High Court judgment in the ISP's favour.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiTrial: AFACT cites NBN in piracy crackdown talks
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has used its latest court loss and the impending NBN rollout as a springboard to lobby for legislative reforms on copyright.
Source: iTnews Australia