Broadband News
Mon, 17th Jan 2011
NBN Co awards $1.6 billion of equipment contracts
NBN Co has announced the three companies that will supply hardware equipment to the $35.9 billion National Broadband Network.
Source: ARN
Telstra Tasman link up
Telstra has confirmed that transmission issues affecting some Tasmanian customers late last week have been resolved.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co awards $110m enclosure deal
NBN Co has lodged a $50 million order for optical distribution frames and sub-racks from Victorian manufacturer Warren & Brown.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vividwireless shakes up broadband plans
ISP vividwireless has announced that it will raise the price of its standalone unlimited broadband service in a plan shake-up that also formally introduces the company's voice service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Opinion: Broadband is needed, and needed now
Applications in health, environmental and resource management could justify NBN investment.
Source: iTnews Australia
Sun, 16th Jan 2011
Broadband users have more gigabytes than they know what to do with
Telecoms market research firm, Market Clarity, says it has confirmed that most customers of Australian fixed broadband services use only a fraction of their monthly download quota: 15 percent on average.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 14th Jan 2011
NBN Co still working on battery issues
The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) has been quick to defend its hardware following questions about how basic telephone services over the National Broadband Network (NBN) may be affected if mains power is cut.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Majority of Optus network back online in Queensland
As flood waters recede and power is turned back on, Optus has resumed services to most of its mobile sites in Queensland.
Source: Computerworld
Weather severs Telstra Bass Strait cable
A Telstra Bass Strait fibre link from Tasmania to Victoria went down today after severe weather severed the cable.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Abbott: Government must "rethink spending" due to floods
The Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has used a visit to flood-afflicted Queensland to push for a change in Government spending priorities in what is most likely an attack on the National Broadband Network.
Source: ARN
Big telcos brace for $50m repair bill
The nation's major telecommunications companies are facing a bill in excess of $50 million and three months of build time.
Source: Australian IT
European ISPs rubbish net filtering
European internet service providers have lobbied the EU Parliament to drop its internet service provider level child pornography filtering. Legislation is set to be voted on next month which may see it become European law. EuroISPA, representing some 1800 European providers, argues the measures are ineffective.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Nextgen to install temporary fibre cable in Queensland
Nextgen Networks will today attempt a "temporary" fix on a flood-damaged fibre cable linking Sydney and Brisbane after field technicians got their first look at the site yesterday afternoon.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 13th Jan 2011
The big update: Telco networks in Queensland
Telecommunication companies are currently struggling to restore their services in flooded Queensland territory, as access to damaged exchange sites is still denied and power outages prevent networks from operating.
Source: Delimiter
AAPT confirms flood damage to Brisbane PoP
AAPT chief executive officer Paul Broad has confirmed that one of the telco's Brisbane points-of-presence suffered the entrance of water during the Queensland floods.
Source: iTnews Australia
Three months to rebuild Queensland comms: Telstra
It will take three months to fully restore Telstra's communications infrastructure, the telco indicated this week.
Source: Computerworld
Vodafone fires staff over security breach
Vodafone has sacked "a number" of employees following a security breach that resulted in unauthorised access of customer details.
Source: Australian IT
Telcos services stumble as flood peaks
The peak of the Brisbane floods early this morning may have failed to break the 1974 record levels, but it did break telecommunications services for some major carriers.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra locked out of hundreds of Qld exchanges
Telstra has been temporarily locked out of 262 of its telephone exchanges throughout Queensland, according to a bulletin issued yesterday to its wholesale customers, with exchanges in areas such as Edison, Ipswitch and Fortitude Valley actually at risk of power loss or the facilities themselves being flooded.
Source: Delimiter
Telco repairs to get priority as Queensland floods recede
Telecommunications staff and repairs are set to be prioritised as the devastating Queensland floods recede.
Source: ARN
Tasman-Pacific fibre cable raises $4.24m
The carrier aiming to build the second main fibre-optic cable linking Australia, New Zealand and the US yesterday said it raised over $NZ5.5 million ($A4.24 million) in a fourth round of funding.
Source: iTnews Australia
Opinion: What will we do with all that download quota when the NBN rolls down our street?
Generous download plans have meant that maxing out quotas is almost a thing of the past. But has this got more to do with the limits of TV and movies holding back how much content is available via the web?
Source: PC Authority
Wed, 12th Jan 2011
Mobile networks flag as backups die
The areas worst affected by the Queensland floods may have further problems, with mobile service outages possible if battery backups fail later today.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN batteries pose disaster issue: experts
With some mobile telecommunication services in Queensland currently under siege and mains power shut off to thousands, an expert has warned that basic fixed phone services could have been cut off if the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) had deployed the network with its current battery backup technology.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Nextgen swaps wavelengths in Qld
Nextgen Networks was organising "wavelength swaps" with other carriers to shore up its fibre services as one of its inter-capital data arteries was severed near Thagoona, west of Ipswich.
Source: iTnews Australia
AAPT: Multiple Brisbane co-lo sites "under threat"
Telco giant AAPT this afternoon revealed a number of its Brisbane-based co-location hosting sites were in danger of being affected by rising floodwaters in the capital, in the wake of news this morning that it had powered down one site in Eagle Street.
Source: Delimiter
Optus network disrupted by flooding
The Optus network in Queensland has been disrupted due to power outages as the flooding continues.
Source: Computerworld
Oz NBN plans beat NZ's: Microsoft execs
Two Microsoft executives have said that Australia's approach to its National Broadband Network is better than that of New Zealand with its Ultra-Fast Broadband initiative.
Source: ZDNet Australia
No flood havoc for fibre blackspots network
The Queensland floods have covered some areas where Nextgen Networks has already laid cable for its 6000km fibre-optic backhaul network, but a previously scheduled staff break and lack of installed repeater equipment means the network remains intact for now.
Source: ZDNet Australia
QLD data centres operating despite floods
Queensland's major data centres operators indicated today that they had so far been spared the impact of rising flood waters in the state with only unconfirmed reports of a handful of facilities powering down.
Source: iTnews Australia