Broadband News

Mon, 27th Jul 2009

Vodafone cuts prepaid mobile broadband, adds 2GB bonus

Vodafone drops the price of its Prepaid Mobile Broadband Starter Pack to $119 and extends the promo date for its bonus 2GB of data to get you started.

Source: APC Magazine

Acacia head resurfaces in Tassie NBN

The man behind the mysterious Acacia organisation that fronted a bid in the failed fibre-to-the-node request for tenders last year has resurfaced to lead Tasmania's NBN company.

Source: iTnews Australia

Blog: What's behind Seven's Foxtel hunt?

Seven has made no secret of its expansion ambitions, but buying into pay-TV monolith Foxtel lends even greater clarity to the network's long-term vision. With wireless distribution and solid content channels under its belt, can Seven bring IPTV into the mainstream?

Source: ZDNet Australia

Broadband hiring brings credibility

NBN chief Mike Quigley has a tough job to convince the market that a national high-speed broadband network is financially viable.

Source: Australian IT

NBN boss on hunt for staff

The new head of the national broadband network company is on a hiring spree.

Source: Australian IT

Sun, 26th Jul 2009

AIIA: NBNco board must focus on services

A leading ICT industry body has called on the soon-to-be-announced NBNco board to make its first focus the services and digital economy benefits the National Broadband Network (NBN) will create.

Source: ARN

Victoria's pitch for NBN HQ with $5 million ICT investment

With NSW and Victoria vying for the honours to host the National Broadband Network Corporation the Victorian Government has upped the ante with its announcement that it is investing $5 million to develop and trial next generation ICT applications.

Source: iTWire

Sat, 25th Jul 2009

First NBN locations announced in TAS

The first locations in Tasmania to get connected to the NBN were announced today by the Prime Minister.

Source: Whirlpool

Mike Quigley to be CEO of NBN Co

The Australian Government has named former Alcatel-Lucent senior executive Mike Quigley as the executive chairman of the company set up to deliver the National Broadband Network (NBNCo), describing him as "an Australian executive who has reached the top of their profession globally, and is now able to bring the benefit of that experience home."

Source: iTWire

Former Telstra Country Wide chief, Doug Campbell to chair Tassie NBNCo.

Doug Campbell, former head of Telstra Country Wide and former deputy MD of Telstra, has been named as chair of the Tasmanian NBN Company (TNBN Co), a joint venture between NBNCo and Aurora Energy that will rollout and operate the National Broadband Network in Tasmania.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 24th Jul 2009

Target cyber bullies, not censorship, expert says

The Federal Government should focus on stopping cyber bullying instead of pushing ahead with its controversial plan to filter the web, an internet rights expert says.

Source: ABC News

ISPs give clean feed filter a technical green-light

More than half of the Internet service providers (ISPs) taking part in the Federal Government's ISP filtering trial have reported minimal speed disruptions or technology problems.

Source: ARN

Vic Govt puts up $5 million for NBN applications

The Brumby state government has saddled up $5 million for the development of next generation ICT applications as part of its efforts to be the National Broadband Network's main stable.

Source: ARN

BT's separation advocate to advise Australian Government on functional separation of Telstra

The Australian Government has contracted a BT executive with experience in, and who is a strong supporter of, the separation of BT to advise it on the possible functional separation of Telstra.

Source: iTWire

Trujillo 'world class' in making enemies: Switkowski

Former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski has taken aim at his recently departed successor, saying Sol Trujillo had managed to make enemies of both the Howard and Rudd governments.

Source: Australian IT

Thu, 23rd Jul 2009

Photos: Inside Basslink's undersea fibre converter station

One week after Basslink's official launch of its subsea fibre cable in Georgetown, Tasmania, iTnews has secured the first pictures from inside the Loy Yang converter station in Victoria and of the terrestrial fibre rollout connecting it to Traralgon.

Source: iTnews Australia

Netspace launches 10 Tassie DSLAMs

Internet service provider Netspace today announced the activation of 10 DSLAMs (Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer) in Tasmania.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Government to charge $24k for access to NBN documents

Shadow communications minister Nick Minchin has been quoted $24,000 to access NBN-related documents as part of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Source: iTnews Australia

Blog: Tasmanian Premier Bartlett talks NBN

In today's Twisted Wire, Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett explains his vision for a broadband enabled Tasmania, that will "leapfrog every other nation on earth".

Source: ZDNet Australia

Massive growth in mobile broadband

Mobile broadband usage has surged over the past year, with subscribers to the services nearing a quarter of a billion globally and the industry recording year-on-year growth of 93 percent.

Source: iTWire

Pie Networks plans private femtocell network

Pie Networks plans to roll out global networks of "hotspot webphones" that can double as femtocells and be leased to mobile network operators to boost their coverage in high-traffic indoor locations like shopping centres.

Source: iTnews Australia

NSW lodges NBN bid

Nsw has launched its bid to have the headquarters of the federal government's $43 billion national broadband network.

Source: Australian IT

Telstra funds grassroots development of tech-savvy seniors

Telstra is offering a new round of grants of up to $A50,000 to help community groups teach seniors about using mobile phones and computers.

Source: iTWire

Wed, 22nd Jul 2009

Democrats name net filtering opponent to direct technology policy

The Australian Democrats has appointed an opponent of Internet filtering, and board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia, Geordie Guy as its new national technology policy coordinator.

Source: iTWire

Infrastructure lobby pitches ACCC to set NBN access prices

Australia's competition watchdog should be appointed as overseer of the national broadband network and be "directly involved" in setting access prices, according to a national infrastructure forum.

Source: iTnews Australia

Google pushes need for high speed NBN

Google has made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on the NBN, urging the Federal Government to make the investments and regulatory changes necessary to ensure high-speed internet access.

Source: iTnews Australia

Open IPTV standards needed to integrate NBN services

Video in all its forms has long been touted as a "killer application" for the national broadband network, but according to Ericsson the big opportunity is to exploit tight integration between video content and related services that will be made possible by open IPTV standards and the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS).

Source: iTWire

3G wireless broadband "fastest growing mobile technology ever"

Global HSPA (3G wireless broadband) connections will pass the 150 million mark by the end of September and 200 million by the end of Q1 2010, according to the GSM Association.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 21st Jul 2009

Conroy breaks bond in rush to broadband plan B

The Federal Government's finance management agency says it was left out of the loop on plans to issue billions of dollars in bonds to fund part of the Government's broadband plan.

Source: SMH

NBN study too big for bidders

The federal government's national broadband network implementation study could be too big for just one company to complete in six months.

Source: Australian IT