Broadband News
Wed, 19th May 2010
Thodey pushes wireless broadband, PSTN in wake of NBN
Wireless broadband use will continue to rise regardless of Telstra negotiations with the Government over the national broadband network (NBN), according to the telco's chief executive officer, David Thodey.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra's live trial of 'dual channel' Next G kicks up to 22Mbps
The world's first live over-the-air test of 'dual channel' 3G HSPA+ on Telstra’s Next G network doubles download speeds to 22Mbps 'under controlled conditions'.
Source: APC Magazine
Tasmanian NBN under $50: Primus
Primus is the first ISP to reveal prices for the Tasmanian NBN -- $44.97 a month for 15 gigabytes of data at speeds of 25Mbps.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra must take part in 4G spectrum auction
Telstra's inclusion in future 4G mobile spectrum auctions is essential for competition in the mobile market, analysts told the 4G Summit yesterday, despite Communications Minister Senator Conroy's threat to restrict Telstra's participation unless the national telco structurally separates.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus warns on network costs
Optus has warned the competition regulator that broadband prices will rise and competition will wither unless it rejects Telstra's proposed changes to the telecommunications wholesale access regime.
Source: Australian IT
Senate Committee Report: Dump the NBN
The NBN Senate Select Committee has handed down its fourth interim report, which ultimately recommends that the Government scrap the national broadband network.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN gets public nod
The majority of Australians back the National Broadband Network (NBN), according to a study by the researchers at Swinburne University of Technology. The results are a blow for the Coalition, which has backed scrapping the NBN.
Source: ARN
Telstra net service lets Australia down
Tascott, the jewel of the Central Coast, looking out on to Brisbane Water with national park behind, is a well-kept secret. Well, sufficiently secret for Telstra not to know a lot about it - much of the suburb still cannot achieve an ADSL broadband connection.
Source: SMH
Hughes sets up Aussie branch to bid for NBN Co Ka band satellite
Broadband satellite builder and network operator, Hughes Network Systems, has formed an Australian subsidiary to bid for NBN Co's expected tender for Ka-band satellites.
Source: iTWire
Economists, analysts dispute NBN study numbers
Economists and analysts are lining up to challenge the assumptions and calculations made in the NBN Implementation Study, prepared by McKinsey-KPMG after a $25 million commission from the Federal Government.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 18th May 2010
NBN Co wants IT ops manager
The state-owned company behind the National Broadband Network has advertised for a top-level manager to lead its newly created IT operations team.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vividwireless reveals Perth WiMAX network speeds
Vividwireless has revealed that users of its six-week old WiMAX network in metropolitan Perth are recording average downlink speeds of 9.53 Mbps
Source: iTnews Australia
Competition Tribunal pans Telstra's ULLS cost modelling
The Australian Competition Tribunal has published its reasons for last week's decision rejecting Telstra's proposed price for the unbundled local loop service, saying it does not accept Telstra's cost modelling methodology.
Source: iTWire
Skilled migration targets ICT and NBN
Occupations such as cook and hairdresser have been replaced by more technically-inclined positions on a new skilled occupation migration list released by the Federal Government yesterday.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co consults in Armidale and Willunga
NBN Co has initiated community consultation for rollout of its FTTH network in two of the first release sites: Armidale in NSW and Willunga in South Australia.
Source: iTWire
Cable networks a threat to NBN plans
A billing and operating system upgrade could tidy up the Telstra and Optus hybrid fibre-coaxial networks for sale to the NBN Co.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra to allow data rollover on iPad 3G plans
Telstra will permit unused data on its pre-paid iPad 3G plans to be carried forward into the following month rather than expire at the 30 day use-by period, but there's a catch...
Source: APC Magazine
No room at the internet
Could everyone please stop launching blogs and upgrading smartphones and buying airconditioners that are operated across the web? The internet is nearly full.
Source: SMH
Mon, 17th May 2010
Survey: ISPs not to blame for copyright violations
According to a recent poll, while acknowledging that downloading copyrighted material is against the law, respondents overwhelmingly agreed that ISPs were not to blame.
Source: iTWire
Manly Fast Ferry offers free WiFi
Commuters on the privately-owned Manly Fast Ferry service can access free WiFi internet from today following a successful two week trial of the service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Acacia wants its NBN money back
Former fibre-to-the-node National Broadband Network bidder, Acacia, has reportedly come out of the woodwork to fire a legal shot across Stephen Conroy's bows. It wants the $10 million it spent on its bid back. Since Acacia was a bid made up of influential men and using their money, I really can't fault the action. But it seems to have taken Acacia a long time to make up its mind. It's over a year since the government decided to go its own way.
Source: ZDNet Australia
AFACT applauds LimeWire ruling
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has welcomed a US Federal Court ruling that popular peer-to-peer file sharing service, LimeWire and its operators, are liable for inducement of copyright infringement.
Source: Computerworld
NBN arguments 101: Is Australia's NBN world class?
Some have called the proposed fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) national broadband network (NBN) "world class," but how far ahead of the rest of the world is Australia? For those who haven't heard, the network will provide committed speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 90 per cent (possibly 93 per cent) of the population, as well as at least 12Mbps to most rural areas of Australia through fixed wireless and satellite services. Given Australia's geography and the speeds its more remote constituents have had to deal with currently, it certainly seems like an ambitious project.
Source: Computerworld
Nextgen digs WA and NSW regional backhaul links
Work is set to commence on the New South Wales and Western Australian links of the Federal Government's $250 million broadband blackspots project this week.
Source: iTnews Australia
Cyber-safety committee speaks out on ISP filtering
The Joint Committee on Cyber-Safety is set to release details of public hearings and submissions into mandatory filtering as well as other cyber-safety issues.
Source: ARN
Capital must wait for NBN rollout
The first rollout of the national broadband network, in Tasmania, is forcing Hobart residents to wait longer for super-fast services.
Source: Australian IT
Praise for NBN from an unexpected quarter
A private sector executive in the home of free enterprise has backed the Federal Government's decision to put public money into the creation of the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: iTWire
Sat, 15th May 2010
Broadband network boss not fazed by Abbott threat
The head of the national broadband network has brushed aside threats by the federal opposition to dump the project if elected, amid concerns over safety and the network's profitability in high-density areas.
Source: SMH
Fight to filter out evil leaves bad guys to do their worst
Buried in the budget papers - not this week's beige bundle but the Rudd government's first effort in 2008 - is an ugly set of numbers. Small numbers, but ugly. The Coalition had boosted funding to the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team, a unit of the Australian Federal Police.
Source: SMH
Fri, 14th May 2010
Photos: building Tassie's Scottsdale NBN
In the lead-up to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's July date for switching on National Broadband Network (NBN) services in the first Tasmanian homes, ZDNet Australia has obtained some photographs of the roll-out taking place in Scottsdale, Tasmania.
Source: ZDNet Australia