Broadband News
Mon, 23rd Aug 2010
Rural broadband finally gets some bandwidth
Anyone who thought that Australian politics was boring before last weekend is probably now having second thoughts. Whichever party gets to form government, however, one thing is certain: rural and regional Australia are finally going to get decent broadband. The question remains what sort?
Source: iTWire
Abbott set to shift policy ground
Tony Abbott has revealed he is prepared to alter his election promises -- including on his proposed broadband network.
Source: Australian IT
Independents to decide government warm on NBN
The likelihood of a hung parliament after the weekend’s Federal Election has left the fate of the National Broadband Network (NBN) up in the air, but supporters may take heart at comments from independent members set to hold the balance of power.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra in limbo on NBN
A shifting customer landscape and poor financial results had prepared Telstra to adapt to the advent of the National Broadband Network.
Source: Australian IT
Sun, 22nd Aug 2010
Election outcome to favour bush broadband
A cursory look at the platforms of independent members of parliament would suggest a hung parliament could favour the prioritised rollout of broadband services in regional and rural Australia.
Source: iTnews Australia
Coalition broadband to woo independents?
Senior Liberal Senator Nick Minchin believes the Coalition's $6 billion broadband plan will be more attractive to three country-based independent MPs than Labor's planned $43 billion network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Hung Parliament - what it means for tech and broadband
The results are in and neither side has emerged as a clear winner. With two such different broadband policies at play from both parties, what will a hung parliament do to our technology and the IT industry?
Source: ARN
Govt chaos: Has NBN Co stopped the rollout?
The NBN Co would not confirm this morning whether it would continue rolling out fibre while Australia's political future is in turmoil.
Source: APC Magazine
Broadband may help net independents
Last night when ABC television was trying to contact Rob Oakeshott, the re-elected independent member for Lyne, the patchiness of mobile reception in his northern NSW electorate made contact difficult.
Source: SMH
Fri, 20th Aug 2010
Julia on NBN: Don't risk jobs, economy
Julia Gillard has used her last set-piece speech of the campaign to warn that Australia will lose jobs to offshore markets if it does not go ahead with the construction of a high-speed national broadband network.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co received extra $300m before election
The Federal Government has injected over $300 million in equity into NBN Co, it has come to light this week, doubling the capital available to the company responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network.
Source: Computerworld
NBN no cost to homes: Gillard
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has denied people would have to pay thousands of dollars to rewire their homes to get Labor's national broadband network.
Source: Australian IT
NBN a pie in the sky: Morgan
The $43 billion national broadband network (NBN) is a "purely political cover up" of the failure of the original FTTN proposal and a repeat of decades-old, failed nation-building technology Labor policy, according to independent telco consultant and long-time trade unionist, Kevin Morgan.
Source: Computerworld
iiNet brings terabyte broadband plan to NBN
ISP iiNet has raised the bar on its "terabyte" broadband plans by extending the offer to new sign-ups on national broadband network (NBN) infrastructure.
Source: iTnews Australia
AAPT to push ahead with fibre network upgrade
Telecom NZ has decided to push ahead with an upgrade of AAPT's national fibre network, to help the soon-to-be wholesale and business-only carrier compete in an NBN world.
Source: iTnews Australia
1TB plans are simply a headline seeking announcement: Exetel
Exetel chief executive, John Linton, has dismissed hefty new plans from fellow internet service providers (ISPs) iiNet and Primus Telecom arguing that they are more about marketing than sustainable business.
Source: Computerworld
TPG offers $69.99 1TB plan with home phone
TPG has joined the terabyte fray, serving up a 1TB broadband and home phone bundle for $69.99.
Source: ARN
Homes to pay heavy price for internet
Home owners face a heavy slug to distribute the ultra-fast internet access promised by Labor's National Broadband Network around the house.
Source: Australian IT
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