Broadband News

Mon, 31st Jan 2011

NBN Co publishes draft NBN B2B framework

NBN Co has published the draft framework for the business-to-business gateway for ISPs utilising the National Broadband Network.

Source: Computerworld

Sat, 29th Jan 2011

NBN Co releases first draft of service provider B2B interface specs

NBN Co has released a series of documents detailing its proposals for the automated business-to-business interface that access seekers will use to deliver, monitor and bill for services provided on the NBN to end user customers.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 28th Jan 2011

Mobile broadband is killing free Wi-Fi

After spending two weeks in Japan scrounging for free Wi-Fi, I've come to the conclusion that mobile broadband is killing free Wi-Fi.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN: Conroy blasts 'ignorant & dangerous' Abbott

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has delivered a verbal double barrel shotgun blast in the direction of Tony Abbott, claiming the Opposition Leader has displayed a "woeful ignorance" regarding Labor's vaunted National Broadband Network project.

Source: Delimiter

Turnbull reveals what he'd do to the NBN

Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has outlined what he’d do to the Government’s National Broadband Network if the Coalition took control at the next election.

Source: ARN

Time running out for IPv4

Remember Y2K? The internet today is facing a similarly big problem all over again, but nobody knew exactly when it would hit - until now.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN: Abbott slams 'interactive gambling' waste

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has again called for the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project to be scrapped, claiming Queensland residents suffering in the wake of the state's catastrophic floots would rather have transport infrastructure rebuilt than the "interactive gambling" that he said the NBN would offer.

Source: Delimiter

Thu, 27th Jan 2011

One billion mobile-only Internet users forecast for 2015

There will be as many as one billion people using mobile broadband as their exclusive means of Internet access according to one industry analyst.

Source: iTWire

Huston: Address shortage threatens the open internet

APNIC chief scientist Geoff Huston has delivered a pessimistic view of the future of the internet, with no obvious solution in sight to the looming shortage of IPv4 addresses.

Source: iTnews Australia

When overseas Internet purchases go wrong

If you're buying from a website based in Australia, you're covered by Australian consumer law. But what if something goes wrong with an online purchase from an overseas website?

Source: PC Authority

Gillard confirms: NBN won't be cut to help rebuild after Queensland floods

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has confirmed the National Broadband Network will not be cut or slowed down to help fund rebuilding after the devastating Queensland floods. The Government estimates the recovery will cost $5.6 billion.

Source: ARN

Internet users to hit 2bn, landline drops

The number of internet users worldwide has mushroomed to reach the 2 billion mark, the head of the United Nations' telecommunications agency, Hamadoun Toure, has announced.

Source: ZDNet Australia

The end to global mobile roaming rip-offs? your own base station

Ubiquisys - a developer of femtocells - has gone one step further with the attocell: a cellular base station designed for the iPhone that you can plug into your Internet-connected laptop anywhere in the world and connect your cellphone direct to your home operator's network.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 25th Jan 2011

NBN: Who will be connected last?

Now that Labor's ambitious National Broadband Network project has finally cleared all of the regulatory, commercial and political hurdles that have stood in the way of its path to universal bandwidth nirvana, it's time to ask the most important question of all about the project. Who will be connected last?

Source: Delimiter

Follow Dodo or go the way of the dodo

Dodo may not have the most unblemished customer service record as an ISP, but the entry of this internet survivor into Victoria's retail electricity market marks an important point in the evolution of deregulated markets. Taken to extremes, internet service providers will eventually become just service providers as new networked products let them offer everything from Foxtel to insurance - but can the vision become reality?

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN looming: network vendors ramp up service provider marketing

Network equipment vendors Juniper Networks and Brocade have both made new appointments to their service provider marketing teams, with Juniper saying there is renewed momentum in the Australian market as service providers prepare to exploit the National Broadband Network.

Source: iTWire

Cerf: IPV6 crisis is imminent

Internet luminary Vint Cerf has urged the Internet community to speed up its move to IPv6 during his keynote speech to the Linux.conf.au conference, also using the opportunity to cast doubt over the Australian government's controversial plans to censor the Internet.

Source: iTnews Australia

Abbott eyes NBN cable contracts for flood relief

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has stepped up his campaign to divert NBN funds for flood relief by citing NBN Co's $500 million outlay on fibre as money that could have been used for relief efforts.

Source: iTnews Australia

An Australia Day NBN joke

The following telecommunications-related joke was sent to us by a friend. It's unknown who wrote it, but we think Malcolm Turnbull, in particular, might find it amusing :)

Source: Delimiter

Mon, 24th Jan 2011

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf to push Aussie NBN in the US

Internet pioneer Vint Cerf - now chief Internet evangelist at Google - told an Internet industry gathering in Sydney that he was envious of the NBN and would be pushing for the US take a similar approach.

Source: iTWire

Action, not talk, needed for IPv6

The co-developer of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) has urged associations and businesses to take action on deploying IPv6, rather than continuing to talk.

Source: Computerworld

NBN Co takes new home wiring to builders

NBN Co plans to educate builders and sparkies on the internal wiring of new homes with two "specialists" to be employed to provide consultative support to the industry.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sat, 22nd Jan 2011

NBN vulnerable to the wet

Some sources believe scrapping the Telstra network is unwise in light of the floods.

Source: Australian IT

Fri, 21st Jan 2011

Net censorship doesn't work: Vint Cerf

Julia Gillard's bid to censor the internet is not an "effective move", says Vint Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the internet.

Source: Australian IT

Abbott returns to NBN savings campaign

Opposition leader Tony Abbott has criticised suggestions by the Government to impose a one-off flood tax to pay for rebuilding efforts in Queensland, believing the money could be found by "reprioritising" spending on projects such as on the National Broadband Network.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN shouldn't be scrapped: NBN CEO

Building a national broadband network is in Australia's long-term interest and shouldn't be derailed by the floods, says NBN Co chief executive, Mike Quigley.

Source: Computerworld

Does NBN Co really need to build its own satellites?

To bring broadband to a few tens of thousands of remote Australian, NBN Co is planning to spend several hundred million dollars on two geostationary satellites. Meanwhile a Canadian company is planning to launch a network of microsatellites that it says will "provide backhaul capacity will connecting remote regions of the Earth to the Internet."

Source: iTWire

iiNet outage hits Victorian and NSW customers

Internet service provider, iiNet, is experiencing service outages for customers in NSW and Victoria, but expects to fix the problem by this morning.

Source: ARN

Opinion: How to oppose the NBN

Havyatt wonders whether Turnbull and Abbott are taking their role in "opposition" too literally.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vodafone 3G network weakest in Sydney

Sydney's central business district and eastern suburbs remain some of the weakest points in Vodafone's 3G network for reception, with more than 2000 dropouts recorded in the past two months, according to a report to be sent to industry regulators this week.

Source: Computerworld