Broadband News
Thu, 17th Jun 2010
Privacy Commissioner sits on fence over ISP snooping policy
The Federal Privacy Commissioner has issued a muted statement in reaction to the Attorney General's proposal to force ISPs to keep records of Australians' internet usage.
Source: APC Magazine
NBN Co confirms analog phone support
The company charged with building Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN), NBN Co, yesterday said that the network will support legacy analog telephone services.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Survey: Broadband customers want pricing based on usage
Broadband customers want pricing based on speed and what is being used, according to a new survey.
Source: ARN
Web snooping policy shrouded in secrecy
The Federal Government is hiding controversial plans to force ISPs to store internet activity of all Australian internet users - regardless of whether they have been suspected of wrongdoing - for law enforcement agencies to access.
Source: SMH
Who will be the content king?
Right now, all over the world, a battle is being fought. Everyone knows that we will soon be watching a significant amount of IPTV, but who will profit from this shift? Existing TV companies have agreements in place with the content providers, but internet service providers have a strong relationship with the end user.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 16th Jun 2010
Telstra call costs capped by Conroy
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy today announced an extension of price control arrangements on Telstra which will force the telco to continue charging 22c for untimed local calls from home phones and 50c from payphones.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Call for calm over data retention talks
The Internet Industry Association (IIA) has revealed that the Attorney General's Department has been discussing the possibility of data disclosure laws with Australia's ISPs for eleven years.
Source: iTnews Australia
Inside Australia's data retention proposal
Telecommunications industry sources have called the claims by Attorney-General media relations that web browsing history would not be recorded in a controversial data retention proposal "a bit cute" and a question of terminology and semantics.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internode revamps business ADSL plans
Internet Search Provider (ISP), Internode, has announced reworked business ADSL broadband plans, claiming a combination of increased data quotas and reduced prices.
Source: Computerworld
Conroy tries again on bill to split Telstra
Controversial legislation that threatens to split Telstra in two will be reintroduced to the Senate today.
Source: Australian IT
Telcos give a tick to NBN ad splash
Several Internet service providers have backed the Federal Government's $16 million advertising splash designed to shore-up public support for the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: Computerworld
Tue, 15th Jun 2010
Conroy touts 50 percent uptake for NBN pilot
Almost half of all Tasmanian premises in NBN's stage one zones have signed up to fibre services that will launch in "a few short weeks", according to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Source: iTnews Australia
ISP snooping law would make piracy lawsuits AFACT of life
A proposal to log your every move online would not only violate your privacy, but provide the missing link for studios to sue file sharers within an inch of their lives.
Source: APC Magazine
Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US
A new US Senate Bill would grant the President far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of, or even shut down, portions of the internet.
Source: ZDNet Australia
More warnings over 'free' and 'unlimited' phone and Internet
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) has added its voice to the issue of misleading advertising over mobile phone and Internet bills.
Source: PC Authority
Lessons learned from Europe's data retention laws
Australia's Attorney General's Department might want to find a more successful international precedent to justify an introduction of data retention laws for telcos and ISPs than in Europe.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 14th Jun 2010
"It's not about your web history": Attorney General
The Attorney General, Robert McLelland, has denied the government's controversial ISP logging policy will extend to users' web history.
Source: APC Magazine
Fewer Australians subscribing to broadband
Australia is one of only two developed countries where the take-up of broadband internet connections declined last year, new figures show.
Source: SMH
Small telcos up in arms over Foxtel-Telstra deal
An attempt by Foxtel to offer extra services over the internet exclusively to Telstra customers has angered smaller internet providers, who argue the plan will harm competition and short-change consumers.
Source: The Age
Battles loom over home wired network standards
The G.hn standard for wired home networks has been approved by the Telecommunication Union's Telecommunications sector (ITU-T), and is being touted as "the one global standard" but it faces competition from others.
Source: iTWire
Private equity, TPG set sights on AAPT
AAPT could be in new hands as early as August if its owner, Telecom New Zealand, accepts one of several approaches for the business.
Source: Australian IT
Sat, 12th Jun 2010
iiNet's IPTV is three times the cost of Telstra's
In an industry where Telstra is almost always the most expensive, this certainly is a surprise.
Source: APC Magazine
Facebook adviser critical of filter
A policy adviser to Facebook says he doubts the Australian government's proposed mandatory internet filter will work.
Source: Australian IT
iiNet knew of internet surveillance proposal in 2009
iiNet was briefed in 2009 about a government proposal to force ISPs to store copies of customers' emails, phone calls and web browsing histories, but was bound to secrecy.
Source: APC Magazine
Fri, 11th Jun 2010
Govt wants ISPs to record browsing history
Companies who provide customers with a connection to the internet could soon see themselves having to retain subscriber's private web browsing history for law enforcement to examine when requested, a move which has been widely criticised by industry insiders.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Federal Government in talks to monitor all web browsing
The Federal Government is considering the introduction of a system that would force ISPs to record browsing histories of every Internet user in Australia.
Source: ARN
Government holds the line on ACTA talks
The Federal Government has no plans to extend the shelter of 'safe harbour' to Australia's universities, search engines, web hosts and other network providers to protect them from prosecution over the actions of their subscribers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus changes customer charges - guess who gets screwed
In a letter sent to customers, Optus has outlined changes to the way charges for national, mobile and international calls are to be calculated. In a move that rivals their mobile data being charged in 10MB chunks, there’s little benefit in this for customers.
Source: iTWire
Rudd tells Tasmanians why they need NBN
Kevin Rudd tells Tasmanian in this editorial why they should connect to the National Broadband Network, outlining the benefits of his government's plan.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus mulls lawsuit over Telstra coverage maps
The legal team at Australia's second largest telco Optus is preparing a lawsuit against incumbent Telstra, alleging that the nation's incumbent telco misrepresented Optus' network coverage in maps posted on a Telstra blog.
Source: iTnews Australia