Broadband News

Wed, 20th Apr 2011

ACCC reveals interim pricing for transmission services

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed interim prices for regulated transmission services.

Source: ARN

TIO fees don't help customers: telcos

The three big telcos have raised concerns about the fees that telcos pay the Telecommunications Ombudsman for complaints made against them, stating that the organisation's reliance on the fees for funding is not appropriate.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Test customers go live on Armidale NBN

The first mainland National Broadband Network (NBN) services have gone live, with users in Armidale reporting operational fibre access to the $36 billion network.

Source: Computerworld

Tue, 19th Apr 2011

NBN costs weigh on uni student market

James Cook University has warned of the potential for the National Broadband Network (NBN) to price university students out of the broadband market without continued monitoring of regional fibre backhaul competition.

Source: Computerworld

Townsville clamours for NBN communication

Townsville City Council has criticised the Federal Government for a lack of leadership and communication around the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: Computerworld

Why I'm ditching VoIP for the PSTN

This week I called iiNet and cancelled our VoIP service. We're returning to the Public Switched Telephony Network. All of my calls from now on will be placed over the ageing copper infrastructure which the National Broadband Network will eventually replace. The switch will take down our broadband connection for several days, but at the end of the process it'll be worth it.

Source: Delimiter

NBN won't kill 1TB plans: NBN Co

The National Broadband Network (NBN)'s pricing structure will not lead to the demise of terabyte plans, NBN Co has said, because most Australians will stick to smaller plans that will average out the cost of high-use customers for retail service providers (RSPs).

Source: ZDNet Australia

Small ISPs left on backburner by NBN Co

The founder of North Queensland Telecom has voiced frustrations around the lack of information provided by NBN Co on the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN), claiming that smaller ISPs have been overlooked in the process.

Source: Computerworld

2011 survey results now available

The results of Whirlpool's 2011 Australian Broadband Survey are now available.

Source: Whirlpool

Broadband enthusiasts keep the NBN faith

The majority of Australia's broadband enthusiasts remain buoyant on the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project, according to a survey released overnight.

Source: iTnews Australia

Hackett rubbishes NBN Co's 'crystal ball gazing'

Internode managing director Simon Hackett has published an impassioned statement responding to the National Broadband Network Company's attempts to explain its pricing model, accusing the fledgling fibre monopolist of "crystal ball gazing" with regard to its predictions of how much usage its network will see.

Source: Delimiter

Mon, 18th Apr 2011

NBN Co releases wholesale pricing calculator

The National Broadband Network Company has released an online calculator that allows users to calculate projected wholesale costs for providing services to its planned network, as debate continues to swirl about whether its pricing model will disadvantage smaller ISPs who want to play on the national stage.

Source: iTWire

NextDC finds another Sydney site

Datacentre builder, NextDC (ASX:NXT), has secured a new datacentre site situated in Macquarie Park, Northern Sydney.

Source: ARN

Smartnet: NBN lacks unified governance

The $36 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) project is lacking a unified governance mechanism to lead it down a single direction, according to SmartNet director, James Kelaher.

Source: ARN

NBN fibre reach 'disappointing': committee

The government's own Regional Telecommunications Independent Review Committee has expressed disappointment with the government's decision not to extend the National Broadband Network (NBN) fibre to 100 per cent of Australian premises, warning the decision will continue inequity of services.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Banks, NBN drain IT skills pool

The latest Clarius Skills Index, released today, shows a shortfall of 2200 computing professionals to service industry and government needs.

Source: Australian IT

Business chief slams NBN rollout

The first rollout of the National Broadband Network in Tasmania is a squandered opportunity, says the state's senior business leader.

Source: Australian IT

Fri, 15th Apr 2011

NBN Co defends its pricing model

The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co)has published an extensive statement explaining its pricing rationale on broadband forum Whirlpool in an apparent attempt to comprehensively respond to continued strident criticism from industry luminaries Simon Hackett and Bevan Slattery about its model.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Fast broadband arrives in two South Australian communities

Just because you haven't been able to get fast broadband in your area, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be waiting until the NBN arrive. Telstra has announced fixed broadband upgrades in two additional locations in South Australia.

Source: iTWire

Pricing stoush: NBN Co Whirlpools its rationale

The National Broadband Network Company has published an extensive statement explaining its pricing rationale on broadband forum Whirlpool in an apparent attempt to comprehensively respond to continued strident criticism from industry luminaries Simon Hackett and Bevan Slattery about its model.

Source: Delimiter

New Aussie ISPs only get 1024 IPv4 addresses

The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre has just released its last block of IPv4 addresses. This means that any new ISP that wants to start up in Australia will only be issued with 1024 IPv4 addresses. I'd hope that any new players entering the market will have the foresight to start in IPv6. It just makes sense.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co would not pass muster in the markets

NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley recently gave a speech complaining about the degree of scrutiny to which his company is subject.

Source: Australian IT

Asia out of IPv4 addresses

The Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) has run out of all but a handful of IPv4 addresses that it is holding in reserve for start-up network operators.

Source: ARN

Thu, 14th Apr 2011

EFTel chief John Lane exits ISP

ClubTelco's reverse takeover of ISP EFTel has claimed long-time chief John Lane, who has been replaced by an ex-Dodo executive.

Source: iTnews Australia

Do the OECD stats support the NBN?

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has seized on figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that benchmark global broadband pricing, stating that they show broadband prices are still too high in Australia.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus still evaluating LTE

Optus has said that it will conduct more trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology before committing to offering the services to customers, despite competitors Vodafone and Telstra announcing plans to bring in 4G services in by year's end.

Source: ZDNet Australia

New Zealand passes 'three-strikes' law

The New Zealand Parliament has passed a Copyright and Infringing File Sharing Bill that could see persistent copyright infringers disconnected from the internet for up to six months.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vodafone network upgrade begins in Central Coast

Vodafone will initiate its $1 billion network upgrade in pockets of the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter region on April 19.

Source: ARN

Wed, 13th Apr 2011

UXC takes former NBN Co construction head

NBN Co's former head of construction Patrick Flannigan has taken up a full-time advisory role at IT systems integrator UXC.

Source: iTnews Australia

Internode gets mobile voice back on track

Internode has said that it hopes to offer 3G mobile voice services by the third quarter of the year, explaining that it hadn't brought them online last year as planned due to "competing internal development priorities".

Source: ZDNet Australia