Broadband News
Wed, 19th Aug 2009
Aerial cables could halve the cost of NBN: Ericsson
Attaching NBN fibre to power poles instead of putting it in underground ducts would reduce the cost of the rollout by one third to a half, according to an Ericsson guru on NBN matters.
Source: iTWire
iiNet has new weapon to bolster case
Perth-based internet service provider iiNet has put two new lines of legal defence before the Federal Court in its bid to stop a group of entertainment companies suing it for copyright infringement.
Source: Australian IT
Submarine urged for cheaper web
The chief executive of one of Asia's biggest internet providers has said Australian broadband users would be dramatically better off if the Government built an undersea cable to the United States.
Source: The Age
Forecast: NBN, school PCs underpin strong growth
Government spending will cushion the Australian IT market from the worst effects of the global financial crisis, while the NBN roll-out will give the sector a medium and long term shot in the arm, a report from analysts Business Monitor International says.
Source: iTWire
Forensics experts examine iiNet and Telstra facilities
ISP iiNet has revealed the identity of its key forensics expert witness in the film industry copyright case in which it is embroiled.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 18th Aug 2009
EFTel, aaNet suffer denial of service attack
ISPs EFTel and aaNet continue to battle a distributed denial of service attack which has caused weeks of internet outages in New South Wales.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiNet CEO warns of telco-centric NBN
iiNet managing director, Michael Malone says there is a danger of the NBN being developed under a 'carrier-centric' model that would require every service provider to go through a carrier or primary service provider that 'owned' the connection to the home, rather than being able to establish a direct relationship with the customer.
Source: iTWire
Telstra revamp savings sour
Telstra has yet to achieve the half-billion dollars in savings it had expected this financial year as a result of its technology transformation project.
Source: Australian IT
Coalition senators oppose first NBN legislation
The Senate Committee enquiring into the legislation designed to facilitate the rollout of the National Broadband Network has tabled its report with coalition committee members calling for the legislation to apply only to the NBN implementation study, and for the government to return to the Parliament for fresh legislation should such be required.
Source: iTWire
Optus tech upgrade on hold
Optus' multi-million-dollar technology transformation has been put on ice as the telco reconsiders which areas of the business would benefit most from the program and whether it is worth the money.
Source: Australian IT
Mon, 17th Aug 2009
Broadband won't come cheap
The first national broadband network rollout, in Tasmania, will cost an estimated $20,000 for each premises that takes up the superfast internet connection -- and business leaders say its impact may be minimal.
Source: The Australian
Developer body wants fibre mandate delay
The Urban Development Institute of Australia has broken its silence on fibre rollout in greenfield estates by calling on the Federal Government to delay its plans by a year.
Source: iTnews Australia
Primus completes $2m upgrade to fight outages
Following three service outages so far this year, Primus Telecom over the weekend completed an upgrade to the power systems of its Melbourne data centre.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiNet boosts net profit 44 percent to $25.6m
Australia's third largest Internet service provider, iiNet (ASX: IIN) has reported revenue for the year to 30 June of $418.3 million, an increase of 67 percent, EBITDA up 42 percent to $67.2 million and net profit after tax up 44 percent to $25.6 million.
Source: iTWire
Internode launches online call-waiting service
With demand for broadband services plateauing, Internode has upped its efforts in customer service as it looks to maintain an edge over competitors with the launch today of a real-time, web-based call waiting service in its business departments.
Source: iTWire
How to Get a Good Broadband Deal, Part 6: Stop paying for uploads
This is one of the big traps for unwary broadband users, and avoiding services that meter uploads is a good idea, especially if you're a user of peer-to-peer (P2P) services like BitTorrent.
Source: PC Authority
Sat, 15th Aug 2009
Worse case regulation to cost Telstra $1.6 billion
Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope has warned shareholders the impact of the Federal Government's NBN-focused regulatory review could cost the carrier up to $1 billion upfront and up to $100 million a year for six years.
Source: iTnews Australia
The ISP Q&A Series: Netspace
The ISP Q&A Series is a look at the opportunities Australian ISPs have for resellers.
Source: ARN
Fri, 14th Aug 2009
Southern Cross cuts prices, ups capacity
Southern Cross Cable Network today hit out at suggestions it exploited its position as the only submarine cable provider to New Zealand.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Adam to build Adelaide metro WiMAX network
Adam Internet has won a tender from the South Australian Government to roll out a WiMAX network covering Adelaide's metropolitan area from October.
Source: iTnews Australia
Conroy to roll out WiMax to broadband blackspots
Despite having mothballed the previous government's $1bn OPEL WiMax network plan, Stephen Conroy has announced his great new idea: a WiMax network to cover broadband blackspots.
Source: APC Magazine
Stanhope details Telstra break-up risks
Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope yesterday outlined the increasing risk levels the Federal Government's National Broadband Network timeline faced if it were to opt for more "extreme" forms of separation for Telstra.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Blog: Telstra's last-mile strategy: Broadband limbo
Let's say a competitor of yours was planning a major new initiative, and you had a few years to get ready before the battle began. You'd probably start bolstering your defences, strengthening your products and working hard to secure customers so you'd have the best defence against whatever new product they were bringing to market.
Source: ZDNet Australia
New head at Broadband department
Peter Harris has replaced Patricia Scott as secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
Source: Australian IT
Canberra's broadband chief to net $2m a year
The head of the Federal Government's broadband network will earn nearly $2 million a year, making him one of the highest paid people on the public payroll.
Source: The Age
Thu, 13th Aug 2009
Tasmanians will have to wait for Internode's naked DSL services
Earlier this week Internode announced the 'launch' of its naked DSL services, NakedExtreme in Tasmania but it is not presently able to connect any customers to this service.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co board meets, sorts out Tassie offspring
At the top of the agenda when the newly-appointed NBN Company board meets in Canberra today – after a brief photo-op with the Minister at Parliament House – will be the composition of the Tasmania NBN Company board.
Source: iTWire
Southern Cross trials 40Gbps Nortel kit
Southern Cross Cables has joined Telstra in trialling 40Gbps technology from Nortel which it hopes will quadruple bandwidth on its undersea fibre link.
Source: iTnews Australia
Industry body: Act now to operationally separate Telstra
The Competitive Carriers Coalition (CCC) wants to see a faster route to operationally separate Telstra, and has pointed to an example abroad to back its call.
Source: ARN
Telstra: giant cash cow at risk of competition
Australia's collection of Big Things – the Big Pineapple, the Big Merino, the Big Banana and so on – is in danger of losing one of its members. Ballina's mayor thinking the Big Prawn has become old and tacky.
Source: SMH