Broadband News

Tue, 05th Jul 2011

Teen finds free net hole on Voda, Optus

A 19-year-old from Grafton, New South Wales has found a hole in the mobile broadband networks of both Optus and Vodafone that allows users free access to the internet.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Photos: Skybridge installs NBN satellites

As part of the NBN satellite trials initiated this month, 200 existing SkyMesh and HarbourSAT users have had the satellite service installed at their homes. This means more than the ONT box fibre and fixed wireless users get - it's an entirely new satellite dish along with their existing one.

Source: PC Authority

Review: VividWireless wireless broadband

VividWireless is a relatively new player in the mobile broadband marketplace. The company itself is a subsidiary of the same group that owns Channel Seven and Hybrid TV, the local distributors of the TiVO PVR.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN committee calls for bigger greenfields probe

A joint parliamentary committee has called for a bigger investigation into alleged breaches of competitive neutrality rules by network wholesaler NBN Co in new housing estates.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 04th Jul 2011

Optus' filter can be defeated by 'trivial' DNS change

The nation's second-largest telco Optus this afternoon confirmed users would be able to defeat its implementation of a blacklist filter of sites containing child pornography merely by changing the DNS settings on their PC.

Source: iTWire

Optus filter to go live this month

Optus has confirmed that it will follow Telstra and start filtering its customers' internet traffic for a blacklist of sites containing child pornography within the next few weeks.

Source: ZDNet Australia

High speed adult content may drive NBN uptake

While the Federal Government has extolled the virtues of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in delivering e-health and government agency services to every Australian, adult content will be the major driver of consumer adoption, according to content and applications developer, The Project Factory.

Source: Computerworld

ISPs to cop blame for false NBN speed claims

The ACCC has shone a light on contention ratios on the National Broadband Network after threatening to sue internet service providers whose products don't meet the speed test.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra's David Thodey 'underpaid': survey

Telstra's David Thodey is among a few ASX100 chief executives with a strong case for a pay rise, according to a study.

Source: Australian IT

NBN deal with Telstra 'absurd and wasteful'

Canberra faces demands to axe plans to pay Telstra to maintain its copper network in the bush where the NBN Co will also roll out a network.

Source: Australian IT

Sun, 03rd Jul 2011

ACCC spells out the reality of "100Mbps" on NBN

The ACCC has published an information paper to guide providers of HFC and FTTP broadband Internet services when they make 'speed' claims about their services. It makes very clear the many factors that will in reality make the speed users really experience much less than the much touted headline figures.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 01st Jul 2011

Don't lie about fibre speeds: ACCC

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is lecturing internet service providers (ISPs) over being truthful in advertisements about the speeds available over hybrid fibre-coaxial and fibre networks ahead of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Vodafone adds 775 mobile network sites, upgrades 810

Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) is ahead of schedule with its $1.1 billion network upgrade with 775 new network sites added and another 810 upgraded.

Source: ARN

AAPT meets NBN with expanded network

AAPT chief David Yuile has revealed plans to extend the telco's fibre network in a bid to reach all 121 points of interconnect under the National Broadband Network.

Source: iTnews Australia

AAPT becomes official NBN aggregator

Aapt is now a certified National Broadband Network (NBN) service aggregator.

Source: ARN

ACCC rethinks Telstra exchange regulation

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has had second thoughts about Telstra exchanges that it had previously exempted from regulation, saying that some may not be living up to its expectations.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN to launch rural broadband service

Rural and remote Australians will soon have access to broadband services similar to their city cousins with the launch of the National Broadband Network's (NBN) Interim Satellite Service.

Source: Computerworld

Test finds national wireless network would harm GPS

New tests for a propossed US-wide wireless broadband network have cast doubt over the Opposiiton's call for the wiidespread use of wireless as an alternative to Labor's National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: ARN

Thu, 30th Jun 2011

Tasmanian NBN cabling stays overhead

The mayor of one of two towns to receive second-stage NBN fibre in Tasmania has flagged the potential for overhead cabling to play a big part at the site.

Source: iTnews Australia

TransACT named as latest RSP choice for the NBN

Regional telco TransACT has been named as the latest retail service provider (RSP) to work on the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: Computerworld

Global sites still slow, says NBN early adopter

Menon's point is a good one -- Australia's international internet links still aren't the greatest, and much will depend on the quality of your ISP's links, as well as the general load of internet traffic on the day to particular sites, their database configuration, how many network hops there are between your PC and their server, and so on.

Source: iTWire

NBN second stage under construction in Tas

Construction on the second phase of the National Broadband Network (NBN) has begun in Tasmania.

Source: Computerworld

TransACT seeks Conroy's exemption in Canberra expansion

TransACT has appealed to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy for an exemption to recently passed NBN legislation that had stalled a greenfields network build outside Canberra.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra 'got best deal possible'

Retiring Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope is convinced the company got the best deal possible from the NBN talks.

Source: Australian IT

Net a daily habit for most of us

Australia is embracing the digital age, with 70% of households connecting to the internet, and more than half of them online daily.

Source: Australian IT

Wed, 29th Jun 2011

Telco cloud risk shifts to NBN: Alcatel

Telstra is better off selling cloud services on the National Broadband Network (NBN) than through its existing copper network, as much of the risk will shift to NBN Co, according to Alcatel-Lucent.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Gillard repeats: Abbott would 'rip the NBN fibre up'

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has repeated her claim that a Coalition Government would physically remove the National Broadband Networks' fibre cables out of the ground if it were to take office.

Source: iTWire

NBN to bring higher costs, state warns

The $36 billion NBN could saddle consumers with unnecessarily high internet costs and hold back competition, the Victorian government warns.

Source: Australian IT

AARNet aims for 100Gbps network within 12 months

Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNET) will convert its network to 100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) within 12 months following a successful 40Gbps trial on its East Coast optical network.

Source: Computerworld

Fibre network refresh at NBN-ready councils

Local councils have begun planning their move onto the National Broadband Network under the expectation it could save them thousands of dollars a month connecting facilities.

Source: iTnews Australia