Broadband News
Fri, 20th Aug 2010
To NBN or not to NBN, that is the question
Was the National Broadband Network (NBN) an election strategy quickly sketched out on the back of an envelope by political strategists with no real intent on building the thing, or is it a well-conceived idea that could become a vital part of Australia's telecommunications infrastructure?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 19th Aug 2010
Optus confirms 6Mbps satellite plans
Optus has confirmed it will soon launch a premium satellite service, delivering downstream speeds of up to 6 megabits per second (Mbps) and upstream speeds of 1Mbps.
Source: Computerworld
Coalition broadband policy has merit: iiNet's Malone
Despite being lambasted by much of the ICT industry, the Coalition's broadband policy has some merit, according to the chief executive of Australia's second largest ISP, iiNet.
Source: Computerworld
1TB plans: That's huge, but who's going to use it?
iiNet and iPrimus brought out their 1TB broadband plans yesterday but analysts agree they won't appeal to the mass market.
Source: ARN
'Unlimited' broadband dead in the water: iiNet, iPrimus
iiNet chief executive, Michael Malone, has come out with a definitive statement on the recent emergence of unlimited broadband plans in Australia: they’re unsustainable and can’t work.
Source: Computerworld
Election rant 5: Can we even use a Terabyte a month?
The Coalition got a lot of things wrong with its election broadband policy, wireless being the chief one. But Finance Spokesperson Andrew Robb got one thing dead right: Australia's telecommunications market has not failed.
Source: Delimiter
IIA throws support behind NBN
The Internet Industry Association (IIA) has positioned itself behind the Government's National Broadband Network ahead of this weekend's Federal Election.
Source: iTnews Australia
Conroy: I'll never bring the filter in without a vote
Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has promised the Australian public that a mandatory filter will never be brought in without a vote in Parliament.
Source: ARN
Tasmanian NBN 10 percent under budget: Conroy
The Tasmanian leg of the National Broadband Network has commenced rollout at 10 percent under budget, according to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Source: iTnews Australia
Primus follows iiNet into 1TB broadband
Just hours after iiNet claimed to make history with Australia's first terabyte broadband plans, rival Primus has launched a new 1.1 terabyte offering, upping iiNet's new deal by 111GB per month.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Video: Quigley talks the election + Coalition
With the fate of his company hanging in the balance depending on who wins the Federal Election this Saturday, NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley took a range of questions from the media yesterday after a landmark speech slamming the Coalition's broadband policy.
Source: Delimiter
Report trumpets benefits of NBN
Stephen Conroy has released a confidential report spruiking the benefits of the NBN eight years before the network is completed.
Source: Australian IT
Wed, 18th Aug 2010
iPrimus steals iiNet's thunder with 1.1TB plans
Intent on stealing iiNet's thunder, iPrimus has brought out new broadband plans with over 1TB of data quota.
Source: ARN
NBN points to aged care relief
By 2026 more than two in five Australians who live alone will be aged 65 or over and nine out of ten of them would prefer to stay in their own homes as long as possible. According to trials being conducted at an NBN testbed in Sydney, broadband communications networks might allow them to do that for longer.
Source: iTWire
NBN sees $27 billion firm equity investment
NBN Co chief executive, Mike Quigley, is becoming clearer on the costs involved in the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN), confirming $27 billion as a "precise" peak government injection equity figure. However, the former Alcatel-Lucent chief operations officer told Computerworld Australia that NBN Co's business case was yet to be finalised or delivered to Government.
Source: Computerworld
Quigley openly slams Coalition's broadband policy
NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley has delivered a stinging attack on the Coalition's broadband policy, publicly backing Labor's rival National Broadband Network project just days before the Federal Election due on Saturday.
Source: ARN
iiNet launches terabyte broadband plans
National broadband provider iiNet today unveiled an extensive revamp of its broadband plans, including what it claimed was Australia's first plan with a terabyte of included download quota.
Source: Delimiter
NBN Co details 1Gbps fibre service offering
NBN Co has released a paper detailing the wholesale products it will offer over its FTTH network, including the 1Gbps offering, announcement of which caused a great pre-election kerfuffle last week.
Source: iTWire
Refused classification could prove death knell for Labor filter
The Classification Board's review of refused classification (RC) material could signal the death of the Labor party's proposed mandatory ISP-level internet filter, pending its results next year.
Source: Computerworld
Conroy: Too early for filter last rites
With the Greens and Coalition having said they will kill Labor's proposed mandatory internet filter "regardless of Saturday's poll" simple Senate mathematics tells you the controversial plan is destined to whither and fade to a distant memory.
Source: iTWire
Internode, iiNet respond to Telstra price "aggression"
Chiefs from two of Australia's largest ISPs have responded to Telstra's assertions that it would compete with them "fairly but very aggressively" for broadband customers this year.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co details fibre, wireless and satellite service specs
NBN Co has released three product papers detailing the wholesale services it will offer over its planned FTTH, wireless and satellite networks.
Source: iTWire
Brumby behind pro-NBN Facebook group
Victorian Premier and Labor stalwart John Brumby yesterday issued a statement noting he had created a new Facebook group where Victorians concerned about the Coalition's broadband policy could make their feelings known.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN 'sandbags' marginal seats
The government has been accused of cynically using the National Broadband Network and the GP super clinics program to sandbag marginal seats.
Source: Australian IT
Tue, 17th Aug 2010
NBN mainland construction begins
Prime Minister Julia Gillard today launched the start of construction in Townsville for the mainland National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ZDNet Australia
ISPs feel the heat from Telstra's new-found aggression
Telstra's resolve to reverse its market share decline is already having an impact on the fortunes of two of its largest ISP competitors, TPG and iiNet.
Source: iTWire
Gillard promises video doctors with NBN
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has pledged $392.3 million to supporting online medical consultations and an after-hours General Practitioner (GP) videoconferencing service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Gillard defers NBN questions
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has twice failed to put a number on how many homes will be connected to the NBN during the next three years.
Source: Australian IT
Optus seeks court ruling on meaning of "unlimited" internet
Optus has amended advertisements for its "unlimited" internet and phone bundles but will pursue a Federal Court declaration that "unlimited" in the context of the internet wasn't understood by consumers to refer to the "speed" of connection.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiNet shrugs off copyright court costs, NBN uncertainty
ISP iiNet will continue to lure subscribers to its free internet TV services regardless of what happens at the polls this weekend or in the courts in the months ahead, its founder said at the announcement of its annual results today.
Source: iTnews Australia