Broadband News
Mon, 21st Feb 2011
Analysis: Did NBN Co pay too much for wireless spectrum?
There is probably a good reason Senator Conroy avoided mentioning the $120 million price NBN Co paid Austar for wireless spectrum last week in his otherwise laudatory press release.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra to open 100 new stores
Telstra says it will open 100 new stores over the next three years.
Source: Australian IT
iiNet's BoB Lite: Review
Can iiNet's first in-house developed device compete with the big boys -- Linksys, Belkin, NETGEAR, and even the FRITZ!Box being marketed by Internode, or is this first effort from the Australian company a lemon?
Source: Delimiter
Conroy: NBN, Internet sales, will cost more jobs
Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has told an event in Sydney that job losses will happen as businesses adopt new technology.
Source: ARN
Telstra wants to get more customers online
Telstra has announced one of its most ambitious attempts to allow its customers do more online as part of the push by the chief executive, David Thodey,to transform Telstra into a service-focused business and reduce its reliance on call centres.
Source: SMH
Stanford Researchers Double Wireless Networking Speeds
Researchers at Stanford University have shown it's possible to double the data rate of communication networks without the need for additional frequencies, something that could lead to significantly faster wireless networking.
Source: Computerworld
Sun, 20th Feb 2011
93% of Australians to get NBN fibre by 2015: Schmidt
Google chairman Eric Schmidt raised a few eyebrows during his keynote presentation at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, claiming Prime Minister Julia Gillard had announced that 93% of Australians would get NBN fibre by "2015 or 2016." Schmidt praised the NBN and said Australia was leading the world.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 18th Feb 2011
EFA to AFACT: your numbers don't add up
Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has delivered a virtual slap in the face to the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), picking a string of holes in research released yesterday by the group which suggested internet piracy was costing Australia's economy $1.37 billion annually.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Back in your box, EFA tells AFACT
Electronic Frontiers Australia has delivered a virtual slap in the face to the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, picking a string of holes in research released yesterday by the group which suggested internet piracy was costing Australia's economy $1.37 billion annually.
Source: Delimiter
Mobile data growth driver behind $2 trillion telecoms market
A new report forecasts that mobile data services will push the global telecommunications market to US$2.4 trillion by 2014, more than compensating for the collapse of fixed line voice revenues.
Source: iTWire
Comment: Plenty of room for NBN wireless and Telstra's LTE
You have to feel for Mike Quigley when dealing with the vexing questions posed by the growth of wireless broadband connectivity: NBN Co has to simultaneously rebut the suggestions that wireless is a threat to the case for fibre connectivity, but at the same time respond to concerns that fixed wireless for the first 4 percent outside of fibre range is not an "inferior technology."
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 17th Feb 2011
$120m too much for $65m spectrum: Libs
The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) is paying twice the price for spectrum that the government rejected when it cancelled the OPEL network, according to the Opposition.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Keneally pledges free Wi-Fi for CityRail
The NSW Government has pledged to deploy free Wi-Fi on all Sydney buses and trains from next year should it win the looming state election, Minister for Transport John Robertson said today.
Source: ZDNet Australia
LTE now, NBN when?
So much nonsense has been written about the so-called 4G versus NBN debate that it seems that everyone except some serious telecoms pundits have overlooked a key fact - the NBN is still years away. Therefore, the debate is really 4G versus DSL, a debate that looks to start heating up very soon.
Source: iTWire
Film industry eyes legal streaming services
The Australian film industry has considered legal, online content delivery in its longstanding battle against movie piracy.
Source: iTnews Australia
EFA shoots down 'unproductive' AFACT movie piracy study
A damning report commissioned by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) on movie theft’s impact on the economy will do little to discourage film piracy online, according to Internet advocacy group, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA).
Source: ARN
Piracy costs $1.4bn a year: AFACT
Piracy is costing the Australian economy a whopping $1.37 billion a year, according to research by anti-piracy organisation the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).
Source: ZDNet Australia
4G: How Telstra will ROFLstomp Optus, VHA
When the reality of a working LTE deployment hits Australia through late 2011, with all mobile phone owners increasingly being smartphone owners ... Telstra's Next G network will become nothing short of irresistable.
Source: Delimiter
NBN vs 4G: war not over yet
An article over at the ABC says the NBN vs 4G contest is "already over", but wireless is currently winning the race for coverage, with the cost of wireless connections in Australia already lower than ever, although speed, as always with wireless, is an issue.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co buys AUSTAR spectrum for $120 million
The company responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network, NBN CO, has purchased pay TV provider, AUSTAR’s, 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz spectrum to roll out wireless broadband to rural and regional areas.
Source: ARN
Wed, 16th Feb 2011
NBN kills 4G on cost for the data-hungry
Many people have taken Tuesday morning's announcement from Telstra to downplay the need for the National Broadband Network, but they're ignoring Australia's growing hunger for data.
Source: ZDNet Australia
VHA breached Privacy Act, says Commissioner
The Australian Privacy Commissioner today said although Vodafone (VHA) didn't make customers information publicly available on the internet during its recent security scandal, it was nontheless in breach of its obligations under the Privacy Act.
Source: iTWire
Telstra LTE versus Vividwireless LTE: what's the difference?
February is the month of Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband technology with both Telstra and Vividwireless announcing they will roll out 4G LTE networks across Australia.
Source: ARN
Turnbull secretly 'loves' the NBN, claims Internode
National broadband provider Internode this morning claimed Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull secretly "loves the NBN as a concept", despite having been given an order by Opposition Leader to "demolish" the project.
Source: Delimiter
Government blows away wireless threat to NBN
The federal government has dismissed suggestions wireless technology is a threat to the national broadband network (NBN)as Telstra plans to boost mobile internet speeds.
Source: ARN
Broadband Dept earns rebuke over rural subsidy scheme
The Department of Broadband has railed against an audit of the Australian Broadband Guarantee scheme that concluded it had not kept pace with the prices and download quotas offered by metro-comparable internet services.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 15th Feb 2011
LTE? We've got that too, say Optus, VHA
Telstra's rivals have issued a muted reaction to the company's plans announced overnight to upgrade its flagship Next G mobile network to the Long-Term Evolution family of fourth generation (4G) wireless technologies, pointing out they were also in trials of the standard.
Source: Delimiter
Telstra won't lack 4G spectrum: Ericsson
Telstra will not be at risk of running out of spectrum for its new Long Term Evolution networks, thanks to multiband technology and the upcoming digital dividend, according to Ericsson.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra upgrades metro Next G network to LTE
Telstra has revealed plans to commercially deploy Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology on its Next G network by the end of the year.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra not insured for disaster
Telstra has restored its fixed-line and mobile networks following Queensland's floods and Cyclone Yasi.
Source: Australian IT