Broadband News
Thu, 08th Apr 2010
NBN legislation 'deeply worrying': Optus
Optus has taken a sledgehammer to the Federal Government's proposed National Broadband Network legislation in a flaming hot submission to the Senate NBN committee, describing the option for the NBN Company to provide retail services as "deeply worrying".
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sky-high internet bills prompt TIO adjustment
The Telecommunications Ombudsman has tripled the monetary limit of disputes it can make legally binding determinations for after receiving complaints of excess internet usage bills as high as $215,000.
Source: iTnews Australia
Test customers set to pay $50 a month
Households could pay as little as $50 a month for super-fast broadband when retail providers flick the "on" switch for the fibre-optic cable being laid across Tasmania.
Source: SMH
NBN bid to stretch China ties
Australia is facing another test in its relationship with China, as the country's largest technology group, Huawei Technologies, makes a bid for a piece of the $43 billion Australian National Broadband Network.
Source: The Australian
Optus sides with Telstra on NBN
Optus has joined Telstra in baulking at a deal with the government over the national broadband network, with the No 2 carrier saying drastic changes were needed to draft legislation before it will sign up to the $43 billion project.
Source: The Australian
Wed, 07th Apr 2010
Web filter splits opposition
The federal opposition is yet to formulate a position on the proposed internet filter despite Labor flagging its intention to introduce the measure before the last election.
Source: SMH
Government touts NBN progress
The Federal government is using the first-year anniversary of the NBN announcement to tout the progress of the $43 billion mega-project.
Source: Computerworld
More ISP rationalisation expected, at the top end
iiNet's acquisition of Netspace is being tipped as the first of several in a major rationalisation of top end ISPs, but there is likely to be little impact on almost 400 smaller ISPs serving mostly regional customers, according to wholesale provider IspONE that serves many of these.
Source: iTWire
NBN: Happy birthday to you
A year ago today, I sat in the lounge room eating a bowl of Nutri-grain while watching Kevin Rudd and Stephen Conroy announce their quite astounding plan to throw out their original NBN tender, and drive the project on top-down basis by building their own network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Adam tests exposure to Ericsson DSLAM bug
Adam Internet has confirmed it is working with Ericsson to mitigate the risk of being hit by a software bug affecting some of the vendor's DSLAMs.
Source: iTnews Australia
Pirate Party and Philip Nitschke teach seniors to hack filter
Pro-euthanasia group Exit International is holding national hacking crash-courses in how to bypass the Federal Government's planned ISP-level Internet content filter with help from the Australian Pirate Party.
Source: Computerworld
Answers on NBN sought one year on
Dollar signs and question marks continue to cast shadows over the government's plan to build its $43 billion high-speed national broadband network a year after Kevin Rudd launched the project.
Source: The Australian
Tue, 06th Apr 2010
NBN Co inks deal with Telstra
NBN Co has revealed that its entire telecommunications services are provided by the very company which, depending on negotiations, could turn out to be its biggest competitor.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Renewed calls for NBN's FTTH to carry RF channel for TV
NZ company Optical Network Engineering, in a submission to the Senate NBN enquiry, says the 100Mbps of the NBN's FTTH network won't be enough to satisfy future demand for 3D and HD video, and an RF channel should be added to the fibre.
Source: iTWire
Internode finds bug in Ericsson DSLAMs
ISP Internode has discovered a software flaw that has crippled some of the Ericsson-branded Ethernet controller nodes (ECNs) on its network - a flaw that may lie dormant within the networks of other service providers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Senate committee to investigate NBN
The Senate national broadband network committee may hold off on delivering its final report until the $25 million NBN implementation study is tabled.
Source: Australian IT
ACCC facing challenges in regulating NBN Co
The ACCC has, for the first time, spelt out some of the challenges it faces in regulating NBN Co as a future monopoly provider of telecommunications services.
Source: iTWire
'Hacking masterclass' offered to bypass filter
Euthanasia groups will hold computer seminars around Australia to teach people how they can defy the Federal Government's proposed internet filter to obtain suicide information.
Source: ZDNet Australia
No proof ISP filtering works: Abbott
Opposition leader Tony Abbott says there is insufficient evidence ISP filtering is effective enough to warrant his full support.
Source: Australian IT
Liberals seek a policy alternative to the national broadband network
Tony Smith likes nothing more than to sit in his fully restored 1971 Holden HQ Monaro, turn on its original radio and enjoy the leafy suburban surrounds of his home in Chirnside Park, in outer-suburban Melbourne.
Source: Australian IT
Mon, 05th Apr 2010
Concerns as Telstra, NBN face split
Telecommunications companies will think twice about investing in their networks if they think the federal government's national broadband company will be given an unfair advantage, says a business group.
Source: SMH
Spectrum sale looms as test for the regulator
Chris Chapman is facing arguably the biggest test of his tenure as chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, as the regulator readies itself for a once-in-a-generation digital-dividend spectrum auction.
Source: The Australian
Thu, 01st Apr 2010
Internet's not special, says communications minister
Web experts recoiled today at communications minister Stephen Conroy's assertion that the internet is not "special" and should be censored like books, films and newspapers.
Source: SMH
Adam tests WiMAX firmware for speed drive
ISP Adam Internet will deploy a firmware upgrade to its WiMAX network in Adelaide next quarter that will push the network's capability beyond the current 15 Mbps limit.
Source: iTnews Australia
Internode to formally offer consumers IPv6 this year
Internode will offer production IPv6 services to consumers by the end of 2010 as it continues to gain experience through a trial of the next generation Internet Protocol.
Source: Computerworld
iiNet's Malone on Netspace and beyond
The hot topic on the internet industry this week is the $40m acquisition of Netspace by iiNet. On today's Twisted Wire Michael Malone, CEO of iiNet, says we can expect more acquisitions down the track, but not in the very near future.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 31st Mar 2010
Should the NBN worry about wireless?
Outspoken chief executive of Australian internet service provider Exetel, John Linton, has been clear that he considers that wireless kills the NBN Co's fibre-to-the-home proposition. But could mobile broadband really rain on the NBN's parade and turn it into a failed field of dreams?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Libs: Conroy on NBN-hater witch hunt
Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy has hit back at Liberal communications spokesperson Tony Smith who yesterday claimed Conroy would "burn at the stake" anyone who doubted the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Analysts: ISPs will suffer in a saturated ADSL market
ISPs will find it harder to stay competitive in an ADSL market close to saturation point, industry analysts claim.
Source: ARN
Analysis: In mobile tech war, LTE haunts WiMax again
Just as WiMax mobile broadband technology starts to recover from losing the big battle for industry dominance to Long Term Evolution (LTE), a new version of LTE is attacking it in its newly secured niche.
Source: iTnews Australia