Broadband News
Fri, 14th May 2010
NBN pricing: revolution or revolting?
Questions over the pricing of NBN services were answered in part, as Exetel revealed an innovative pricing model that will save money for light internet users and price bandwidth hogs off of its services. Underneath that pricing, however, are some important lessons about the prices at which NBN Co can deliver its fibre services - injecting some reality into long-running speculation over future NBN pricing.
Source: ZDNet Australia
'Hire us for free', NBN chief told
National Broadband Network (NBN) chief executive Mike Quigley today said he had turned down workers who had attempted to offer their services for free to build the Federal Government's National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Date set for iiNet v AFACT - Round 2
The stage has been set for another face-off between iiNet and the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).
Source: ARN
Our vote is in: Kirby for net filter blacklist inspector
Communications minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has tried countless ways to appease the more skeptical of us that mandatory ISP-level filtering is a good idea.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co selects first release network designers
NBN Co has contracted seven companies to design both aerial and fibre broadband networks at its "first release sites".
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus will protect NBN from cable wars
Optus has thrown its support behind controversial measures to stop infrastructure builders from competing with the national broadband network, as the telco reported another stellar profit result for the year.
Source: The Australian
Thu, 13th May 2010
Telstra set to double capacity of inter-capital fibre network
Telstra has upgraded its Sydney-Melbourne optical fibre network to operate with 40Gbps per wavelength, doubling capacity and says it will upgrade other major inter-city routes over the coming year.
Source: iTWire
Parents reject filter when told more: survey
A survey commissioned by groups opposed to the Federal Government's internet filter project has found that the more information parents receive about the proposal, the less likely they are to support it - although they strongly supported the filter idea overall.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Neighborhood Cable to upgrade HFC network to 100 Mbps
Neighbourhood Cable will upgrade its hybrid fibre and coaxial (HFC) network in regional Victoria to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, pushing speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Source: iTnews Australia
AARNet: Punters need to be sold on NBN
The Federal Government has some way to go to convince the general public of the National Broadband Network's worth, according to the head of the Australian Academic and Research Network, (AARNet).
Source: Computerworld
Optus gets mobile data boost as fixed broadband stalls
Optus has capitalised on Australian's appetite for mobile data, boosting its annual revenues and profit while its fixed-line broadband revenue stalls.
Source: iTnews Australia
Conroy, NBN Co and Implementation Study authors called back to Senate hearing
The Senate select committee for the national broadband network (NBN) will call back key stakeholders in the network for another two hearings, according to committee chairman, Senator Ian McDonald.
Source: Computerworld
Ludlam: filter opponents "stand-up now"
Green Senator Scott Ludlam hit out at the Federal Government's Internet content filtering plan, calling for opponents to "stand-up" in Senate yesterday.
Source: Computerworld
The NBN'S 500-page fairy tale
Fairy tales take place in some distant land of dragons, knights and damsels in distress. They are not concerned about complex political situations, incumbent telcos and angry shareholders. By building an NBN there would be a comparatively straightforward process and they'd all live happily ever after.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 12th May 2010
Former AFP cop says filter will 'fail'
A former director of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) Alistair McGibbon last night said the Federal Government's proposed mandatory internet service provider level filter would "fail".
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACCC gets additional $24m to manage NBN issues
Impending telecommunications structural reform might be aimed at reducing regulatory complexity, but that hasn't stopped the competition watchdog being given an additional $24 million Budget boost to manage the new issues and new complexities that will arrive with the National Broadband Network.
Source: iTWire
Canberra leading Australian net usage
The Australian Capital Territory continues to lead the nation as the home for the biggest users of the internet, according to a release yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telco Bill unlikely to get debated this week
The Federal Government's controversial legislation to reform the telecommunications sector is unlikely to get debated in the Senate this week, after Senate whips from each party last night met and decided they needed to debate Bills that hadn't been passed from yesterday.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Operators can make profit from mobile broadband - says Nokia Siemens
Prophesies of doom and gloom for mobile operators are legion as they struggle to meet surging demands for mobile data and price-eroding fierce competition, but Nokia Siemens Networks claims that profitability is within operators' grasp.
Source: iTWire
Net Filter companies losing ISP business
Sales of web content filters to the telecommunications industry have frozen as reluctant Internet Service Providers (ISPs) wait for possible subsidy under the Federal Government's national Internet content filter plan.
Source: Computerworld
Budget 2010: Cost of managing NBN Co stacks up
Four Federal Government agencies have all received funding boosts in the 2010 Budget specifically for their role in managing or regulating the development of the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co).
Source: iTnews Australia
Budget 2010-2011: Government pumps cash into NBN and ISP filtering
The Government has kicked up its commitment to the National Broadband Network (NBN), promising $300 million in funds from infrastructure bonds and $16m in advertising and marketing to promote fast Internet as part of the new Federal Budget.
Source: ARN
Tue, 11th May 2010
Telstra loses bid to double wholesale cost
The Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) yesterday rejected Telstra's push to double the wholesale price for access to its Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) in metro areas.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internode, Exetel, Dodo and ispOne join Telstra's FTTH trial in Point Cook
Four service providers - Internode, Dodo, ispONE and Exetel - have signed up to offer broadband services over the FTTP network that Telstra has rolled out to 1500 homes in the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook.
Source: iTWire
Conroy appointed to UN broadband taskforce
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been appointed to a UN taskforce aimed at speeding the roll-out of broadband networks around the world.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra Bill will finally make it to the Senate tomorrow
The Federal Government will introduce a Bill that aims to structurally separate Telstra to the Senate on Wednesday.
Source: Computerworld
Competition Tribunal knocks back Telstra's wholesale line pricing
The Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) has once again rejected Telstra's bid for a $30 monthly price for the unbundled local loop service (ULLS) that underpins a large percentage of Australian broadband services and which is presently charged at about half this figure.
Source: iTWire
All eyes on Australia as Conroy pushes net filter
Governments and organisations around the world are intently watching Australia as the Federal Government continues to peddle the proposed ISP-level Internet filter, former GetUp executive director and AccessNow founder, Brett Solomon, has revealed.
Source: Computerworld
NBN is about ubiquity, not just uptake and speeds
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is not just about consumer take up of faster Internet speeds. It’s about ubiquity, according to one of the expert panel members that evaluated the now abandoned fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) tender for the network.
Source: Computerworld
NBN on council collision course
The NBN plan appears set to put the federal government on course for a new war with local councils.
Source: Australian IT