Broadband News

Fri, 15th Oct 2010

Optus to go unlimited mobile browsing

Optus has stepped closer to an unlimited 3G wireless broadband offer with the launch of prepaid plans that offer 'unlimited' mobile web browsing for between $2 and $3 a day.

Source: iTnews Australia

Cost-benefit analysis: a policy tool or political club?

Shadow Communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has called for a cost-benefit analysis on the Federal Government's national broadband network plan. Today David Havyatt asks whether such a study is always necessary.

Source: iTnews Australia

Hackers waiting for IP addresses to run out

Cyber criminals are ready to pounce when current IPv4 web addresses run out and firms migrate to IPv6, a security firm warns.

Source: PC Authority

Gillard backs it again - so how would the Internet Filter work, exactly?

With the Prime Minister again backing the filter despite opposition plans to scuttle it, David Braue tries to figure out exactly how the filtering would work if implemented.

Source: APC Magazine

Thu, 14th Oct 2010

Victorian Government pushes for NBN in ICT plan

The Victorian Government has used its ICT plan to promote Labor's National Broadband Network and aim for over 1 million properties to be connected by 2015.

Source: ARN

Brisbane commits to fibre to the sewer

Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has today announced that he will go ahead with his plan to put fibre through the city's sewer network to give 100Mbps speeds to residents within four years.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co to reveal Gungahlin NBN area in weeks

NBN Co last night kicked off community meetings in the northern Canberra suburb of Gungahlin with politicians, stakeholders and 130 residents.

Source: iTnews Australia

Pacific Fibre seeks staff to help build trans-Pacific cable

Pacific Fibre, the New Zealand company planning a new submarine cable network linking Australia, New Zealand and the USA, is looking for staff, including people able to help it raise $US220m in funding.

Source: iTWire

Telstra ramps up online bill payment options

Telstra is upgrading its online bill payment facilities following research that showed online as the preferred payment method by the great majority of customers.

Source: iTWire

NBN costing 'not needed'

The competition regulator has questioned the need for a cost-benefit analysis for the $43 billion National Broadband Network.

Source: Australian IT

NBN wages and fees carry price tag of $50m

The top 40 high-flyers from the department overseeing the National Broadband Network were paid almost $10 million over the past year.

Source: Australian IT

Wed, 13th Oct 2010

Turnbull OK with Telstra separation

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said today that he would not object to the separation of Telstra to resolve problems caused by vertical integration in the telco sector.

Source: iTnews Australia

Turnbull: OPEL better for regional Australia than NBN

The Coalition's 2007 OPEL broadband project would have been a better solution for rural broadband shortfalls than the National Broadband Network, according to Shadow Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

Source: ARN

NBN Co finalises three-year rollout plan

NBN Co plans to hand a revised three-year rollout plan that incorporates long-awaited wholesale pricing to the Federal Government by the end of the month, according to chief executive Mike Quigley.

Source: iTnews Australia

Quigley pans NBN, Telstra copper 'hysteria'

NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley has addressed the "hysteria" caused by recent claims that decommissioning Telstra's network in favour of the National Broadband Network will cause connected households multiple problems including forcing them to pay significant internal wiring costs.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus waits on key info for NBN talks

Optus refuses to sign a definitive deal with the wholesaler of the National Broadband Network (NBN) until it receives further information and clarification on key issues such as pricing as well as provisioning and operating systems.

Source: Computerworld

NBN time frame, budget doable: Kordia

Progress to date indicates that the NBN can be built on time and on budget, a key architect of the Townsville first release roll-out has said, as long as a collective and proactive effort ensures an ample supply of suitable skills when and where they're needed.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Costello attacks the 'National boondoggle Network' (NBN)

Former Treasurer, Peter Costello, has launched a scathing attack on the National Broadband Network (NBN), branding it “the National boondoggle Network”.

Source: ARN

Optus targets NBN wireless fans and fibre critics

Optus took aim at months of "ill-informed debate" over wireless and fibre infrastructure, criticising policy makers and sections of the telecommunications industry alike for their "collective amnesia" when shaping Australia's broadband future.

Source: iTnews Australia

Gillard: Filter is a "moral question"

Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday took the high ground in defending Labor's mandatory internet filtering project, describing the issue of how to ensure Australians didn't get access to the wrong content as a "moral question".

Source: Delimiter

NBN bill at risk of $1bn blowout

The cost of building the NBN could blow out by $1 billion if the government adopts the principles of its Tasmanian rollout around the country.

Source: Australian IT

Tue, 12th Oct 2010

Libs won't "rip up" NBN: Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull says a Liberal government won't discard existing National Broadband Network (NBN) infrastructure if it wins the next election.

Source: ARN

ADSL emulation port scrapped from NBN plans

NBN Co has confirmed the Network Termination Unit (NTU) being installed on residents' homes as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout will not have an ADSL emulation port among its set of interfaces.

Source: Computerworld

Townsville NBN designer surveys sites with iPhone app

The Downer Kordia alliance tasked with designing the first release NBN site in Townsville developed an iPhone app that allowed staff to capture data from surveys of sites being prepared for a fibre connection.

Source: iTnews Australia

iiNet buys VMware for major email cloud

Australian telco, iiNet, has purchased more than 1 million cloud-based email mailboxes from tech vendor, VMware. Every single iiNet customer will automatically be moved to the new system between October 2010 and January 2011.

Source: ARN

Telstra: Telecoms industry must rebuild reputation

Telstra public policy group managing director David Quilty has called for a "concerted effort" from the telecommunications industry to rebuild the sector's reputation among customers, business leaders and politicians.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 11th Oct 2010

iiNet moves to qualm Optus ULL woes

Eligible Westnet and Netspace customers will be able to churn easily from Optus' wholesale Unconditioned Local Loop (ULL) network to DSLAMs run by iiNet by the end of the year, according to staff at the Perth-based Internet service provider.

Source: Computerworld

Telstra names new CIO

Telstra has named former Seek and Westpac CIO Patrick Eltridge as its new new chief information officer, replacing John McInerney who resigned from the role in June this year.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Prime Minister: Cost of NBN needs to be "reversed engineered"

The cost of the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) needs to be "reversed engineer" in order to demonstrate its worth, according to Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

Source: ARN

Telstra says: Don't take terabyte broadband bait

Telstra has taken a swipe at competitors' terabyte broadband offers, urging customers to "look past" the super-sized offers and go for lower-quota products.

Source: iTnews Australia