Broadband News
Mon, 06th Jun 2011
Between NBN Co and a hard place
Risk is an interesting conundrum. Risk plus unions an even more interesting one.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Our 4G perfect for emergency use: Telstra
Commercial 4G networks would be much better suited for the communications of emergency services than dedicated networks, which will be prohibitively expensive due to high labour and construction costs, the nation's largest telecommunications company Telstra has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ISPs sceptical of ACMA customer service report
The nation's internet service providers (ISPs) have responded with scepticism at recommendations for lifting customer service contained in the communication regulator's draft Reconnecting the Customer report.
Source: Computerworld
Music and film industries split over pirates
The music industry has backflipped on its long-held demands that repeat music pirates be disconnected from the internet as a new UN report declares such a policy would be a breach of human rights and international law.
Source: SMH
Telstra reaches for 500 GB quotas
Telstra is expected to launch its first fixed line broadband plans with 500 gigabyte quotas today, more than doubling its highest previous offering to home users.
Source: iTnews Australia
Workers may hold NBN to ransom
The taxpayer-funded National Broadband Network could suffer uncontrolled cost blowouts.
Source: Australian IT
NBN ramp-up to take 18 months
The builders of the National Broadband Network (NBN) will not be in full production mode for another 18 months, and it is too early to speculate about profits and volumes, NBN Co acting chief executive, Kevin Brown, says.
Source: ARN
Fri, 03rd Jun 2011
Australia celebrates 25 years as master of its own domain
The Australian ICT and business communities yesterday celebrated 25 years on top with .au domain names at a gala event at Melbourne Museum. AusRegistry, the provider of .au domain names, chief executive, Adrian Kinderis, said Australia is "punching above its weight in cyberspace".
Source: Computerworld
Apple co-founder: US will never have an NBN
The US-based co-founder of Apple, Steve Wozniak, said Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) was "a great model" but believed his home country will never adopt a ubiquitous high-speed broadband network that is accessible to all citizens.
Source: ARN
Become a fan: Telstra works hard to be liked
Telstra has increased its investment in social media, but has been unable to stem the tidal wave of negative comments about its brand.
Source: SMH
Internet 2.0: your guide to the national broadband network
If email was the "killer app" which got so many of us hooked on the net when it first came out, then what will a faster, national broadband network (NBN)-connected future look like?
Source: SMH
Victorian Govt raises NBN design concerns
The Victorian Government has questioned the extent to which NBN Co has thought about emergency communications needs in its network design.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 02nd Jun 2011
Deal signals start of NBN mass rollout
The first mass rollout of federal Labor's $36 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) will begin in November after NBN Co made a "value-for-money" deal to deploy the optic fibre component.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra eyes 2012 copper switch-off in South Brisbane
Telstra has revealed plans to switch off copper services in South Brisbane by the end of 2012 as it begins rolling out a replacement fibre network in the area.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra switches on Brisbane fibre
The nation's largest telco Telstra yesterday began switching on the new fibre broadband services it has recently installed in the South Brisbane exchange area, as it continues its project to replace its copper network in the area.
Source: iTWire
Content owners don't back AFACT: iiNet
Content providers are stepping away from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT)'s pursuit of ISPs over copyright infringement, and are open to iiNet's piracy mediator model, according to iiNet's chief regulatory officer Steve Dalby.
Source: ZDNet Australia
AFACT to pay 60% of iiNet legal costs
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) yesterday won a small victory in its legal battle against iiNet, with the Federal Court deciding that the organisation only had to pay 60 per cent of iiNet's legal costs for lost court cases.
Source: ZDNet Australia
CeBIT: Victoria NBN opt-in policy 'short-sighted': Bartlett
Former Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett has described the decision by Victoria's State Government to pursue an 'opt-in' policy regarding connecting residents and businesses to the National Broadband Network as "very short-sighted", arguing for much broader government engagement and focus on the network to maximise its positive outcomes.
Source: iTWire
Internet traffic to approach a zettabyte by 2015
Worldwide Internet traffic is set to quadruple in the next four years according to a major network hardware vendor.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co eyes faster wireless speeds over LTE
NBN Co has flagged future plans to upgrade fixed wireless broadband services to peak speeds in excess of the minimum 12 Mbps to be served up by the National Broadband Network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Aussie Net traffic growth to surpass global average
Increased adoption of smartphones and tablets such as the iPad are set to drive Australia's Internet Protocol (IP) traffic up 41 per cent year on year, eventually surpassing the average global growth in IP traffic, according to a Cisco report.
Source: Computerworld
Wed, 01st Jun 2011
Ericsson scores NBN Co wireless contract, with $1.1b potential
NBN Co has awarded Ericsson a contract to roll out a TD-LTE network to serve the four percent of premises scheduled for wireless coverage in NBN Co's business plan. The initial contract is for 12 months only but could be worth up to $1.1b over 10 years.
Source: iTWire
Crackdown on telcos will ban misleading ads and 'bill shock'
Telcos will be forbidden from using advertising terms such as "cap" and be forced to implement supermarket-style unit pricing and new measures to prevent bill shock under strict new regulations recommended by the communications regulator.
Source: SMH
Silcar scores $1.1b NBN construction tender
The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) has signed a two-year agreement with Silcar to construct the network in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT in a deal worth up to $1.1 billion, following months of controversy due to the suspension of its original construction tender in April.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tender shifts NBN risks to taxpayers
Taxpayers face greater liabilities for construction delays or cost blowouts during the building of the NBN under a revamped tender process.
Source: Australian IT
NBN 'champions' take up failed sell
Media magnate Harold Mitchell and activist Jon Dee are among 20 "NBN champions" picked to spruik the benefits of the wholesale fibre network.
Source: Australian IT
Tue, 31st May 2011
Bartlett: Get hands dirty on NBN strategy
Former Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett has urged Australia's "patchwork" of state governments to "get politics out of the NBN", focusing instead the network's role in economic and community renewal in regional centres.
Source: iTnews Australia
CeBIT 2011: iiNet - NBN should not be viewed as just a product
The $36 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) should be viewed as an essential part of the economy rather than just as a product, according to iiNet chief regulatory officer, Steve Dalby.
Source: ARN
Councils win free NBN terminals
The Australian Government has agreed to fund community internet hubs in first and second release National Broadband Network (NBN) sites to allow residents to trial services.
Source: iTnews Australia
CeBIT: Optus wants ACCC controls on Austar buy
Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan has requested the nation's competition regular intervene in the proposed $1.9 billion merger of pay TV giants Austar and Foxtel, repeating earlier warnings that the next battlefield for Australia's telecommunications sector in a National Broadband Network world would be "open access" to content and applications.
Source: iTWire