Broadband News

Sun, 05th Sep 2010

Windsor backs Labor on broadband

In a blow to the Coalition, key independent Tony Windsor has backed Labor's $43 billion national broadband network, criticising the opposition's cheaper alternative as a "retrograde policy" that would create a digital backwater in rural Australia.

Source: The Age

Fri, 03rd Sep 2010

TransACT nets its 1000th FTTP customer

It's not exactly an NBN-scale milestone, but TransACT has connected its 1000th FTTP (fibre to the premises) customer.

Source: iTWire

Analysis: Net gambling next on ISP filter hitlist?

The Communications Law Centre (CLC) has called for a tightening of Australian laws to more effectively prohibit access to online casino-style games like poker, blackjack and roulette.

Source: iTnews Australia

Broadband not on Katter's wish-list

Rural independent MP Bob Katter has made public his 'wish-list' of issues he wants addressed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard or Opposition leader Tony Abbott before he is prepared to offer his support to either in forming a minority government - and it doesn't include broadband.

Source: iTWire

NBN key to open government: Lundy

Labor senator and technology advocate Kate Lundy has told a New Zealand conference that only high-speed broadband offered by the National Broadband Network will lead to a true open government in Australia.

Source: ZDNet Australia

AAPT shooting blanks over email

ISP AAPT has sent blank emails to customers in an attempt to advise them of the impending sale of their consumer broadband or phone account to iiNet.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra move worries rivals

The closure of a South Brisbane telephony exchange has Telstra's competitors fuming.

Source: Australian IT

Thu, 02nd Sep 2010

Internode flags business market push

Internet service provider, Internode has flagged its intention to increasingly target the business market, announcing the opening of a Brisbane office to dirctly service its existing and expanding customer base in the sunshine state.

Source: Computerworld

Treasury claims $900m Coalition NBN shortfall

The Coalition's promised savings from scrapping the National Broadband Network were $900 million out over four years, a Treasury analysis claimed.

Source: iTnews Australia

No one is selfless in NBN debate

One of the signatories to a national broadband proposal unveiled at the eleventh hour to rival Labor's own long-running NBN project has accused vendors and telcos of stirring up hype for a fibre-optic cable future in line with a view to serving their own interests in generating massive contracts and gaining operating certainty.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Treasury costings scant on NBN details

You might have expected that the Treasury's costings of the two major party's election policies - released to the Independents and the media late yesterday - would contain a fair amount of detail about how much each party's wildly differing broadband policy would cost.

Source: ARN

Wed, 01st Sep 2010

If NBN 3.0 can promise "up to 100Mbps" by wireless why can't NBN Co?

We now have two new acronyms in the every growing lexicon of telecommunications - NBN 3.0 and AAB, the Alliance for Affordable Broadband - along with the promise of near FTTH performance from wireless networks: all from a 'gang of seven' CEOs who, with two exceptions, are exclusively providers of wireless communications services.

Source: iTWire

Telstra overhauls Torres Strait broadband

Telstra has embarked on a $5.3 million project to improve broadband services for islands in the Torres Strait region of far northern Queensland.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Business leaders call for NBN

A group of telecommunications executives yesterday made an 11th-hour plea to independent MPs over the National Broadband Network.

Source: Australian IT

Analysts explains why some telcos don't want an NBN

Analysts have provided lukewarm responses to an open letter from senior telco executives that criticises the Government's National Broadband Network.

Source: ARN

Telcos back coalition-style NBN, slam Labor

A new telecommunications lobby group laden with telco chiefs has trashed the $43 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) and backed a privately-run wireless network worth some $3 billion that is reminiscent of coalition policy which it dubbed NBN 3.0.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN3 Wireless plan needs 4G spectrum fast-track

A wireless National Broadband Network proposal aired late yesterday called for the expedited release of 4G spectrum by regulators as well as access to Telstra backhaul and mobile towers to cut out further costs.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telcos lob broadband grenade: Abbott may be right

An alliance of large telcos has lobbed a last-minute grenade into talks around who will form the next government by proposing a new broadband plan that appears more aligned with the Coalition's policy than Labor's national broadband network.

Source: SMH

Tue, 31st Aug 2010

Rebel yell: NBN 3.0 is a much better idea

A splinter group of rebel telecommunications players have broken with their Australian brethren's long-standing support for Labor's National Broadband Network policy, publishing their own NBN 3.0 model in an apparent attempt to influence the independent members of parliament who may decide the next Federal Government.

Source: ARN

Gillard cautions against "savage" NBN cuts

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has argued that the national broadband network should not be cut or savaged "just when it's making a real difference".

Source: iTnews Australia

20 things to do with a big, fast Internet plan: Listen to Internet radio

Digital radio might offer access to a few dozen stations, but internet radio over broadband brings the world to your doorstep.

Source: PC Authority

Vividwireless goes social, open source to attract uni students

University students will form the target demographic of vividwireless' push into the Sydney and Melbourne market as it ramps up the national rollout of its WiMAX network.

Source: Computerworld

Broadband ranks low in Kennedy

Bob Katter won't find a single paragraph devoted to broadband in a briefing prepared by two local government officials.

Source: Australian IT

NBN top priority for Wilkie

Key independent Andrew Wilkie has named completion of Tasmania's National Broadband Network in a list of requirements to win his support.

Source: Australian IT

Mon, 30th Aug 2010

NBN to survive but not intact: Budde

The National Broadband Network appeared likely to survive a fierce debate over its immediate future but would not escape unscathed, said telecommunications analyst Paul Budde.

Source: iTnews Australia

Internode unveils FetchTV trial

National broadband provider Internode will follow its larger rivals Telstra and iiNet into the brave new world of online entertainment, revealing plans tonight to kick off an internet television trial in late September.

Source: Delimiter

Nationals blast Labor's NBN project

Nationals leader Warren Truss has blasted Labor's National Broadband Network project as increasing signs continue to build that the clutch of independent MPs who will decide the next Federal Government are highly concerned about telecommunications and broadband as an issue.

Source: Delimiter

Telstra unveils "unlimited" wireless broadband for business

Telstra was targeting business buyers with a familiar consumer strategy by revealing an "unlimited" wireless broadband deal today for fleet purchasers of its new Ultimate USB modems.

Source: iTnews Australia

Tassie NBN makes Wilkie wish list

Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has placed the completion of the roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Tasmania as one of his top priorities, in a list delivered ahead of meetings with both Labor Leader Julia Gillard and Liberal Leader Tony Abbott this week.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Exetel chief: Ageing Australia doesn't want 1Gbps

The fiery chief executive of internet service provider Exetel has opened fire on the National Broadband Network's support for 1Gbps speeds, saying those excited by the higher speeds are "unthinking and just plain stupid", with wireless broadband waiting in the wings.

Source: ARN