Broadband News
Thu, 21st Oct 2010
Akamai finds Aussie broadband speeds improve
Based on an analysis of over 8 million unique Australian IP addresses, Australia had the 48th fastest broadband speeds across the world, according to content-distribution company Akamai, which has released its quarterly State of the Internet report.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN won't raise cost of landlines: Conroy
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy last night gave an assurance that landline phone users who hook up to the new NBN would not have to pay more for their service.
Source: Australian IT
Minister moves to mandate NBN
If Communications Minister Stephen Conroy can't get the states and territories to make it mandatory to connect to the national broadband network (NBN) he will legislate it at a federal level.
Source: SMH
Wed, 20th Oct 2010
Telstra welcomes telco reform legislation
Telco giant Telstra has thrown its support behind the telecommunications industry reform legislation re-entered into parliament today, which puts the telco on the path to structural separation as part of an agreement to join the National Broadband Network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Rural NBN focus has no cost impact: Quigley
The Gillard Government's promise to king-making rural independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to make regional areas the roll-out priority for the National Broadband Network would have no impact on NBN Company finances, a Senate committee has been told.
Source: iTWire
Telstra boosts pre-paid broadband plans
Telstra has raised data caps and increased expiry periods for its pre-paid mobile broadband plans. According to the telco, the move comes on the back of rising consumption of wireless broadband.
Source: ARN
NBN Co: Three-quarters of residents consent to fibre
NBN Co has reported the first statistics on how many residents have consented to NBN fibre connecting their premises.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telecom reform law back on table
Key legislation to reform competition in the telco sector and underpin the success of the NBN will be reintroduced to parliament today.
Source: Australian IT
Tue, 19th Oct 2010
NBN business plan to board this week: Quigley
NBN Company executives will present its corporate plan and business model to a meeting of its board of directors for approval on Friday, chief executive Mike Quigley has told a Senate committee, but it is still not clear when or how much of those documents will be made public.
Source: iTWire
Feds focus on voluntary-filter ISPs
The Federal Government was pressing ahead with talks with the three ISPs that volunteered to participate in an internet filter.
Source: iTnews Australia
Exetel initiates legal action against telco ombudsman
The procedures used by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) to deal with customer complaints could soon be scrutinised by the Federal Court, after telco Exetel served the ombudsman with a statement of claim, alleging a number of breaches.
Source: Computerworld
Conroy fires back at Turnbul's NBN bill
Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has fired back at the Coalition's plan to introduce a Bill that would force more reviews onto the National Broadband Network.
Source: ARN
Turnbull files private members' bill for NBN transparency
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull today revealed he had garnered Coalition support for a private member's bill that would force Labor to disclose key financial details of its flagship National Broadband Network project and conduct a cost/benefit analysis into its construction.
Source: Delimiter
AFP: net filter trials were legal
Trials of the government's internet content filter were legal according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which has thrown out claims by network engineer Mark Newton that the tests breached the Telecommunications Act.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Australia slips out of broadband Top 20
Australian fixed broadband connections averaged above 5 Mbps for the first time in 2010 but weren't deemed "ready for tomorrow", according to the latest global Broadband Quality Survey commissioned by Cisco Systems.
Source: iTnews Australia
Broadband: getting faster but still too slow
Broadband speeds have jumped 20 per cent during the past eight months according to a report based on thousands of consumer experiences, but experts warn that Australia still falls well short of its peers internationally.
Source: SMH
Fewer than 5% of IPv4 blocks remain
The number of unallocated IPv4 blocks has fallen to fewer than 5%, according to the Number Resource Organisation (NRO).
Source: PC Authority
Mon, 18th Oct 2010
NBN helps stop 'export of jobs': Gillard
Australia risked losing jobs to offshore markets if it failed to invest in the National Broadband Network as a critical piece of economic infrastructure, Julia Gillard has told Parliament.
Source: iTWire
Quigley: Australia has the skills base for NBN build
NBN Co said an external survey it commissioned to look at the availability of skills for building Australia's next-generation network had not identified skills shortfalls it would describe as "showstoppers".
Source: iTnews Australia
Faster Telstra mobile modem hits the masses
Telstra today started selling its upgraded mobile broadband modem to the wider consumer market, after several months of offering the device -- and its theoretical network speeds of up to 42Mbps -- to big business customers and the government sector.
Source: Delimiter
Primus prepared to wait on IPTV
Primus Telecom has denied a report suggesting it is close to signing a deal with internet-delivered pay-TV provider FetchTV.
Source: Australian IT
Adam Internet joins terabyte party
Adelaide-based Adam Internet has become the latest internet service provider to offer its customers a broadband plan with a terabyte or more of download quota included.
Source: Delimiter
NBN Chinese supply fears strike again
As we predicted in our inaugural podcast last week, Chinese network supplier Huawei's interest in the construction of the National Broadband Network has again sparked fears that the company may be spying for the Chinese Government. Yet, as the article points out, given Telstra and Optus already use Huawei technology, should we really be worried?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Industry in fear as Conroy prepares to harmonise NBN rivals
The Government is set to release legislation that forces fibre networks around Australia to conform with NBN Co standards. The move has the potential to affect all commercial fibre networks nation-wide.
Source: ARN
Conroy readies new laws to curb NBN competitors
The Federal Government will shortly introduce draft laws that compel any telco that builds a new fibre network (or upgrades an existing one) to meet the technical and open access standards of the proposed national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Opinion: Is Brisbane's fibre project really a win for Conroy?
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has come out praising a fibre-to-the-home project in Brisbane that appears to underscore fears in the NBN Implementation Study of private companies "cherry-picking" locations before NBN Co can roll past.
Source: iTnews Australia
Sat, 16th Oct 2010
No NBN price war, despite competition
The planned roll out of a privately funded super-fast broadband network in Brisbane will not result in cheaper prices to access the National Broadband Network, according to the federal government.
Source: SMH
Fri, 15th Oct 2010
Connect to NBN now or pay up to $300 for phone line
If Australians do not opt in to the national broadband network (NBN) as it is rolled out they will lose their fixed-line phone service unless they pay a one-time fee of about $300.
Source: SMH
Deconstructing morality and Labor's internet filter
Much has been written and said about the Labor Government's plan to censor Australia's Internet. The plan, which involves a Government blacklist of web sites that all Australian internet service providers would be required to block, has been criticised for its ineffectiveness, free speech risks and technical difficulties. However, while there has been some moralising, there has been little serious debate about the filter's moral implications.
Source: Delimiter
Conroy: Optus may deliver its services over NBN
Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has speculated that a commercial deal between Optus and NBN Co could see the telco's cable television services delivered over the National Broadband Network.
Source: ARN