Broadband News
Mon, 19th Dec 2011
Vodafone trials fetchtv and femtocells over NBN
Vodafone has connected its first customers to the National Broadband Network, in Armidale: a move that marks its first foray into fixed network offerings.
Source: iTWire
Second British ISP blocks file sharing site
British internet service provider Sky has become the second to block file sharing site Newzbin 2 site over piracy claims.
Source: iTnews Australia
Top 10 Influential 2011: NBN
No technology topic (with the possible exception of the Cloud) has generated more Australian headlines and stories in 2011 than the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: Computerworld
Sun, 18th Dec 2011
Arts Council joins the NBN bandwagon
The Australia Council for the Arts offering funding of $300,000 "pioneering ideas that show the cultural potential of next generation high-capacity broadband."
Source: iTWire
Fri, 16th Dec 2011
Qantas to trial in-flight internet
Not to be outdone by Virgin, Qantas has today announced that it will enable in-flight internet access for passengers travelling on its flagship A380 aircraft.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra rivals welcome wholesale inquiry
The Competitive Carriers' Coalition has welcomed a snap inquiry into wholesale ADSL by Australia's competition regulator as a move to "reinstate telecommunications regulation".
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC re-regulates wholesale services in all previously exempt Telstra exchange areas
The ACCC has revoked a ruling that exempted Telstra from being required to provide wholesale services at regulated prices from some 200 exchanges.
Source: iTWire
Time running out for Telstra's structural separation.
Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy has extended until 31 March 2012, the deadline by which Telstra must complete its structural separation. This takes the total extensions to 12 months, after a further six months legislation requiring Telstra to have instead completed functional separation will come into force.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 15th Dec 2011
AFACT members caught on BitTorrent?
Despite seeking to limit the infringement of copyright over BitTorrent, Sony, Fox and Universal, all members of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), have been caught out using BitTorrent themselves, according to blog TorrentFreak.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra delays mobile data shaping plans
Telstra has delayed plans to throttle mobile broadband speeds for users who exceed their monthly quota, citing technical issues in implementing the service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Students get access to ABC's archive via NBN education portal
The Government has unveiled a new $19.94 million National Broadband Network-enabled education portal that is aimed at giving students and teachers access to and interactive educational resources.
Source: ARN
Telstra's separation fairy tale
Telstra's latest structural-separation undertaking (SSU) attempts to satisfy the industry and the regulator that dealing with the incumbent will be fair and equitable — but is such a promise too good to be true?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra gets telco licences in Singapore and Japan
Telstra is ramping up its Asian presence. It has secured licences in Singapore and Japan that allow it to own network infrastructure and serve customers directly over this infrastructure, just months after obtaining telco licences in India.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 14th Dec 2011
Why do we still pay for home phones?
Why is half of Australia still paying $30 per month for a phone line?
Source: PC Authority
Internode finagles multicast workaround on NBN fibre
Internode is set to trial unicast technology on its network for the first time in an attempt to provide the full suite of fetchtv services over the National Broadband Network and other greenfield fibre networks.
Source: iTnews Australia
Internode on a high with customers
National broadband company Internode seems to have found the formula for keeping its Internet customers happy, with the ISP once again topping an industry survey, this time with a 96 percent customer satisfaction rating, and with rival iiNet the only other ISP with a rating of more than 90 percent.
Source: iTWire
Visionstream nabs $19 million NBN transit network contract
Leighton Group subsidiary, Visionstream, has been awarded a $19 million contract by NBN Co to help build the transit part of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ARN
Primus gains telephone accreditation with NBN
Primus has gained accreditation to deliver fixed-line telephone services to customers on the NBN and is now fully accredited for both broadband and telephone services.
Source: iTWire
Internode offers fetchtv over FTTH networks - without multicast
Internode has launched trial of the fetchTV IPTV service to its customers connected to the NBN's FTTH network and those on FTTH networks provided by Opticomm in new housing developments.
Source: iTWire
Telstra appoints new CFO
Telstra has appointed Andrew Penn, former chief of superannuation and insurance firm AXA, as its new chief financial officer and group managing director finance.
Source: iTnews Australia
Conroy's NBN lecture lacks "intellectual rigour": Turnbull
Opposition communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has argued against communications minister Stephen Conroy's attack on the Coalition's broadband policy as lacking "intellectual rigour or consistency".
Source: Computerworld
Tue, 13th Dec 2011
Conroy comes out swinging on broadband
Communications minister Senator Stephen Conroy has laid the opposition’s broadband plans to ridicule in a fiery televised speech.
Source: iTnews Australia
Good news for the NBN: mobiles' share of Internet downloads still minimal
Australians now on average each have 1.5 mobile services, but despite there being almost five million dedicated mobile broadband devices in use and almost 10 million mobile handsets used to access the Internet, 93 percent of Internet downloads still take place over fixed networks.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 12th Dec 2011
Washup from Friday's Telstra data breach
We don't yet know why, but we sure know what was breached. 60,000 user accounts containing detailed of their accounts (including passwords) and the services used. The Privacy Commissioner is investigating.
Source: iTWire
8 free Wi-Fi stumbling and surveying tools
Even if you have an enterprise-level Wi-Fi spectrum analyzer, like Wi-Spy or AirMagnet, free Wi-Fi tools can also come in handy. You might use them during the planning or installation stages of your wireless LAN, while troubleshooting, or when performing maintenance. They could even serve as your primarily tools in smaller and less-complex environments.
Source: ARN
Town Wi-Fi is no NBN killer
Whenever there's a new claim about something being an "NBN killer", there's always a reason to be cynical.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra customers face password reset
Telstra has reset the passwords of around 60,000 customers as a precaution against hacking of its BigPond customer data base.
Source: Australian IT
Sun, 11th Dec 2011
Internode NBN connection for Qld house in flood aftermath
Internode has turned on high-speed broadband services at the first house in a new subdivision in the Queensland town of Grantham, which is being rebuilt on higher ground after it was ravaged by floods in January.
Source: iTWire
Sat, 10th Dec 2011
BigPond email back online
The majority of BigPond email users have been reconnected after a privacy breach shut down the system for more than 24 hours.
Source: SMH
Telstra probes privacy breach amid network outage
Telstra has blamed a privacy breach for the disabling of internet services that's affected up to one million BigPond email users.
Source: SMH