Broadband News

Wed, 15th Feb 2012

191K premises added to yearly NBN plan

NBN Co has added an additional 191,000 premises to the 2012 National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre roll-out, adding eight new fibre-serving areas to its 12-month roll-out plan.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Cheaper broadband coming after watchdog decision

Consumers should have access to cheaper internet services after the competition watchdog set prices for wholesale broadband on Telstra's network.

Source: SMH

Tue, 14th Feb 2012

ACCC fixes prices for wholesale ADSL services

The ACCC has 'declared' the wholesale ADSL service, determining the price Telstra (and others) can charge wholesale customers for the service.

Source: iTWire

ACCC declares Telstra wholesale pricing

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has handed internet service providers reselling ADSL services over Telstra infrastructure heavily discounted wholesale fees under a one-year interim determination.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus attacks court's profit stripping

Stripping most of Optus' profits for selling broadband plans using misleading advertising is unfair and outside of the law, the telco's lawyers argued today.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Online business not above the law: ACCC

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims has vowed to keep a more vigilant eye on online retailers this year, stating online businesses are not above the law and offline companies need to play fair.

Source: ZDNet Australia

iiNet: No 2 for ADSL, No 1 for stuff-ups

iiNet is now Australia's second largest internet service provider as far as ADSL connections go and a technically sound ISP, going by by my own experience. But when it comes to the other sides of its business, like support and sales, iiNet is no better than any other ISP - in fact, in my view it is much worse than many.

Source: iTWire

Telstra takes aim at $15,000 data roaming bills

Telstra has added five international data roaming packs for mobile broadband use, including a gigabyte of data for $1800 while travelling in one of 25 supported countries.

Source: iTnews Australia

iiNet extends on-net broadband to Darwin & regional Qld

iiNet has announced plans to expand its DSLAM network to enable it connect some 38,500 households and businesses in Darwin and Regional Queensland.

Source: iTWire

Telstra says competitors' DSL enquiry subs "inaccurate

Telstra has written to the ACCC to correct what it says are "factual inaccuracies" in the submissions made by access seekers to the ACCC's enquiry into declaring the wholesale ADSL service.

Source: iTWire

Vodafone Australia churn nears half a million for 2011

Vodafone Australia is expected to report the loss of more than 500,000 customers from its network over the 2011 calendar year as it prepares to report full-year financial results later this month.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 13th Feb 2012

Interim satellites not NBN-suitable: Optus

Optus' Ku-band satellites can be used to deliver interim broadband services for NBN Co, according to Paul O'Sullivan, but would not be able to deliver the same speeds as NBN Co's Ka-Band satellites.

Source: ZDNet Australia

iiNet branches into Darwin and regional Queensland

ISP to target nearly 40,000 new customers with fast broadband.

Source: ARN

DDoS attacks hit IPv6

The first distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the IPv6 infrastructure have been detected.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus adds 182K customers in quarter

Australia's number two telco Optus said it has posted a resilient third-quarter result where net profit rose 4 per cent and operating revenue increased 2 per cent.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co contracts long-term call centre software

NBN Co has handed a $1.5 million, three-year contract for call centre software to Australian company Veridian as part of a move to fulfil long-term call centre requirements.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sun, 12th Feb 2012

Optus gains mobile subscribers, Vodafone loses

Optus has managed to grow its mobile subscriber base despite Telstra's addition of a massive one million new services in the past six months, but Vodafone continues to lose customers.

Source: iTWire

Sat, 11th Feb 2012

Qld Government maps out NBN exploitation strategy

The Queensland Government has set out a four year plan designed to enable the state to maximise its opportunities from the rollout of the NBN.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 10th Feb 2012

Locals claim NBN contracts skip Australia

NBN Co has been accused of ignoring Australian manufacturers by selecting overseas bidders for its grounds-systems satellite-service tender.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus attacked over council cable costs

Sutherland Shire Council is locked in a stalemate with Optus over the $110,000 cost of a cable replacement in the shire's local shopping centre, with the council seeking legal advice after a verbal agreement went south.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone sheds 30K more customers

Vodafone Hutchison Australia's (VHA) joint owner Vodafone has revealed that the troubled telco has continued to shed customers, reporting a loss of 30,000 mobile customers between October and December last year.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra shifts BigPond email to Windows Live

Telstra has revealed it will transfer all its BigPond email accounts to a new service underpinned by Microsoft's cloud email platform, Windows Live.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra says NBN deal is close

Telstra chief executive David Thodey says a decision by the competition watchdog on the telco's participation in the National Broadband Network (NBN) will be made soon.

Source: Computerworld

ACMA names-and-shames Sydney-based spammers

It's probably quite difficult to annoy the ACMA, but when your spamming gets beyond a joke, expect to be thrust into the spotlight.

Source: iTWire

LTE boosts mobile gear by 17% in 2012

Thanks to 4G LTE technology, the global market for mobile communications gear will grow 17% in 2012, according to research firm IHS, formerly iSuppli.

Source: Computerworld

Thu, 09th Feb 2012

Telstra serves up LTE 'hotcakes'

Telstra sold 100,000 LTE-capable dongles its first three months of operating Australia's first fourth-generation network.

Source: iTnews Australia

Conroy sets spectrum caps in digital dividend auction

Communications minister, senator Stephen Conroy has capped the amount of spectrum any single organisation will be able to acquire in the upcoming 700MHz and 2.5GHz auctions at 2x20MHz in the 700MHz and 2x40MHz in the 2.5 GHz band.

Source: iTWire

Telstra Next G juggles 13.2m customers

Telstra has added close to one million new mobile customers in the last six months of 2011, bringing the total number of customers on its Next G network to 13.2 million, the company revealed in its first-half financial results.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Roy Morgan: Internode tops ISP satisfaction survey

Internode has a history of coming out on top of ISP customer satisfaction surveys, and has just clocked an impressive 94% satisfaction on the latest Roy Morgan Research ISP survey.

Source: iTWire

Turnbull slams NBN Co satellite deal

Malcolm Turnbull has condemned as "wasteful" NBN Co's $620 million contract with Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) for the construction of two satellites to deliver broadband to remote areas of Australia.

Source: Computerworld