Broadband News
Thu, 10th Mar 2011
Telstra's threatening its wholesale: NBN Co
Telstra's proposed amendments to legislation for the National Broadband Network (NBN), which seek to limit NBN Co's ability to offer services directly to non-telco corporations with carrier licences, would in fact stop Telstra from offering wholesale fixed-line services, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Dumping cherry-picking laws 'a risk to NBN rollout'
The company building the NBN say the government's investment in the $36 billion project could be undermined.
Source: Australian IT
The need for more air
Wireless spectrum is being fought over by mobile providers, TV networks, emergency services and a myriad of other users.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 09th Mar 2011
NBN: What does 'retail service provider' actually mean?
From the joint parliamentary committee into the National Broadband Network today (and associated submissions released over the past week) comes news that energy utilities want to be able to buy services directly from NBN Co.
Source: Delimiter
Internode boosts intercap fibre links to 10 Gbps
ISP Internode has upgraded capacity on its leased intercapital fibre network, swapping 24 small-capacity links for five fat 10 Gbps links.
Source: iTnews Australia
TransACT concerned NBN will force its split
Wholesale telecommunications provider TransACT has raised concerns with a parliamentary committee that National Broadband Network (NBN) legislation could force it to structurally separate in a similar manner as Telstra.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus guns for NBN volume discounts
Optus has supported NBN Co offering volume discounts to ISPs with large customer bases.
Source: ARN
Get a licence, telcos tell utilities on NBN
Utility companies that want to access services directly from the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) should have to get a carrier licence, Telstra and Optus have argued.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra makes case for NBN cherry-picking
Telstra has a "difference of opinion" with the Government and a key Greens senator on proposed cherry-picking provisions in NBN legislation before Parliament, saying the controversial rules should be culled.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra, Optus oppose 'special' NBN rules for utilities
Australia's largest telcos have spoken out against proposals to allow utilities to bypass retail service providers by buying a wholesale fibre service directly from NBN Co.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 08th Mar 2011
We need direct NBN services: utilities
The Energy industry has rejected calls from Optus, Telstra and the Federal Opposition for the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) to be prevented from supplying retail services to utilities, saying that receiving retail services would over-complicate energy networks.
Source: ZDNet Australia
AARNet increases Basslink capacity to 10 Gbps
AARNet has secured a revised 15-year agreement with subsea cable operator Basslink that will provide Tasmanian researchers with access to mainland-equivalent fibre links for the first time.
Source: iTnews Australia
Albanese on board in spectrum dispute
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has stepped into a dispute between rail operators and mobile carriers and regulators over radio spectrum.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra: LTE and NBN are complementary
LTE wireless technology will work alongside the NBN, not against it, according to Telstra.
Source: ARN
NBN Co, Telstra close to deal
Telstra and NBN Co are finalising an interim arrangement for the network builder to have access to the telco's pits and pipes.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra sets up 1800 MHz LTE interest group
Telstra has set up an 1800 MHz Long Term Evolution (LTE) special interest group to pool operator enthusiasm for deploying next-generation mobile broadband services in that spectrum band.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 07th Mar 2011
LTE pull is capacity, not speeds: Telstra
Key Telstra executives this morning emphasised that its newly announced Long Term Evolution (LTE) roll-out was about freeing up capacity on its flagship Next G network, rather than just boosting top-line speeds.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra hangs up on Salmat contract
Telstra has cancelled its call centre contract with Salmat today, forcing the contact company to slash its guidance for the second half of the year.
Source: ZDNet Australia
How LTE will become Telstra's capacity trump card
In a broader sense, Telstra's shift to the 1800MHz spectrum for LTE mirrors the approach the telco took when it rolled out its 850Mhz Next G network starting in late 2005. At the time, the telco was pilloried by industry observers for using a spectrum frequency which was unpopular with international telcos -- with some claiming few handsets would ever support the range.
Source: Delimiter
Turnbull's crash course on Asian broadband
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has embarked on an impromptu tour of broadband facilities and networks throughout the greater Asian region, in what appears to be an effort to keep on the cutting edge of technology as part of the debate about Australia's own National Broadband Network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
FRITZ!Box 7270: Review
The FRITZ!Box is a perfectly priced, and ideally configured device for one category of customers -- professionals with a small home office, or companies of only a handful of staff members. For this type of use, the FRITZ!Box 7270 is perfect, and we commend it to them. A marvellous piece piece of engineering, it will serve as a valuable investment that will deliver network stability for many years to come.
Source: iTWire
iiTrial appeal sets "high bar" for film studios
Copyright owners may have celebrated too soon a series of steps laid out by judges in the iiTrial appeal that could force ISPs to address piracy allegations, according to Baker & McKenzie special counsel Anne Flahvin.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra revenues slashed by ACCC
Telstra could be stripped of $60 million a year in revenue because of a crucial interim decision by the competition watchdog, analysts say.
Source: Australian IT
Sun, 06th Mar 2011
Nation of unrepentant pirates costs $900m
Almost 5 million Australians illegally downloaded films, television shows, music and other content online last year, a new study shows.
Source: SMH
Sat, 05th Mar 2011
Finding the ring of confidence in city's great beep test
On your marks. Get set. Download. Telstra has won a speed test of mobile phone providers in Sydney, narrowly beating second-place Optus and blitzing rival networks Vodafone and 3.
Source: SMH
Fri, 04th Mar 2011
Watchdog thaws price freeze on Telstra cable
The competition watchdog has thawed its 15-month freeze on the price of accessing Telstra's copper access network.
Source: Australian IT
ACCC draws mixed response on $16 copper access
The competition watchdog's interim decision to set a flat $16 a month charge for most wholesale access to Telstra's copper network has attracted a mixed response from the industry.
Source: iTnews Australia
Disasters could cut NBN comms: Internode
In the event of a natural disaster, fixed-line and mobile phone customers may be cut off because the National Broadband Network won't build redundancy into its network under proposed points of interconnect, Internode's general manager of regulatory and corporate affairs John Lindsay has warned.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra's Plan B if NBN collapses
Telstra has been working on a contingency plan should the Gillard government's mammoth national broadband project fail.
Source: Australian IT
Energy industry attacks Coalition position on NBN wholesale changes
The energy utilities industry has attacked the Coalition's proposed NBN legislation amendments that would stop NBN Co from selling network access directly to selected companies and agencies.
Source: ARN