Broadband News
Tue, 19th Oct 2010
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
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