Broadband News
Wed, 13th May 2009
Rivals fear Telstra broadband grip
A national broadband network born of a union between the federal Government and Telstra would be bad for competition unless regulatory reform accompanied it, according to industry observers.
Source: Australian IT
$53m NBN study incomplete: Opposition
The Federal Opposition has criticised the government's plans to spend $53 million on its National Broadband Network implementation study, claiming the document would be flawed due to the lack of an included rigorous cost/benefit analysis.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Minter Ellison wins Tassie NBN work
Law firm Minter Ellison has been awarded $330,000 worth of work with the federal broadband department for work, which appears to relate to the Tasmanian portion of the National Broadband Network roll-out.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Rural NBN plan gets $80m boost
The federal Government will funnel $80.3 million into a new initiative aimed at promoting broadband take-up in rural and regional Australia.
Source: Australian IT
Tue, 12th May 2009
Federal Government plan to split up Telstra
The federal Government will offer Telstra the chance to buy up to 49 per cent of its national broadband network, if it agrees to voluntarily hive off its wholesale arm.
Source: News Limited
Nathan Rees establishes NBN taskforce
The New South Wales State Government has established a taskforce to ensure Sydney is prepared for the roll-out of the National Broadband Network and to pitch to host its company headquarters.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra still a regulatory threat, say iiNet and Optus
iiNet chief Michael Malone has urged Senator Conroy not to put the development of a telecommunications policy framework on the backburner following the change of leadership at Telstra.
Source: iTnews Australia
$4.7b for broadband
The government has made an initial $4.7 billion down-payment on the $43 billion national broadband network.
Source: SMH
Mon, 11th May 2009
Primus to deliver movies via TiVo
Primus has become the latest telecommunications company to join the set-top box wars, throwing its support behind the Seven Network's TiVo digital video recorder and movie download service.
Source: Australian IT
Trujillo amigo Lamming to return home
The leader of Telstra's ongoing IT transformation program, Trujillo amigo Tom Lamming, will return to his home country of the United States on 30 June, the telco revealed today.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN good for economy, ROI not so easy: Report
The proposed National Broadband Network (NBN) will potentially deliver significant long-term benefits to the Australian economy but it will be a major challenge just to get private funding into the project, let alone give investors a good return on their money.
Source: iTWire
Optus to fund filtering pilot off its own back
A mandatory grant reporting document released by the Department for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) reveals it has spent close to $300,000 this year on its controversial ISP-level filtering pilot.
Source: iTnews Australia
Sat, 09th May 2009
Film studios drop part of iiNet case
In federal court today the film studios backed down from an aspect of their piracy court case against iiNet, leading the judge to award iiNet compensation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ISPs escape copyright trap
The NSW Federal Court will no longer be called to test a contentious legal claim that ISPs directly infringe copyright laws by providing services to individuals who illegally share files on peer-to-peer networks.
Source: Australian IT
Fri, 08th May 2009
Thodey scores Telstra CEO role, chairman McGauchie resigns
David Thodey, currently head of Telstra's corporate and government business, has been named the new CEO; chairman Donald McGauchie has resigned to be replaced by Catherine Livingstone and CFO John Stanhope has been made an executive director in the biggest reshuffle at the top in half a decade.
Source: iTWire
ACCC takes Dodo to task for 'false' ads
The consumer watchdog has blown the whistle on multi-service telco reseller Dodo over its mobile and broadband cap advertisements.
Source: Australian IT
Tasmanian broadband pilot shows us the future
Media companies, tech companies, healthcare providers and other state governments will be among those watching the broadband pilot in Tasmania with great interest to see what impact 100Mbps broadband will have on their respective worlds when the full National Broadband Network is rolled out.
Source: SMH
Telstra strategy won't change: Thodey
Telstra's broad strategy would remain unchanged, the telco's incoming chief executive David Thodey told journalists this morning, following confirmation of his appointment.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra 2.0 won't solve the problem
With the government's game-changing promise to introduce a new gorilla into the marketplace, telecommunications in Australia will never be the same again. And nor should it.
Source: ZDNet Australia
iiNet attempts to delay copyright case rejected
Attempts by ISP iiNet to delay the start of its copyright case have been rejected by the Federal Court, with a decision now expected before Christmas, the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has revealed.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 07th May 2009
Broadband on airplanes takes off
According to a new report, travelers will have some 800 broadband-enabled airplanes to choose from by the end of the year.
Source: iTWire
Aussie Windows 7 internet traffic "as big as Obama"?
Akamai has confirmed that internet traffic on its Aussie network yesterday sustained levels between nine and 12 per cent higher than normal, caused by an "event" it said was either as big - or bigger - than the Obama inauguration.
Source: iTnews Australia
Turnbull slams 'dangerous NBN delusion'
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull yesterday slammed the $43 billion National Broadband Network project, saying that if any business person behaved in the way Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had, he'd find himself in hot water with the nation's financial regulator.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 06th May 2009
NBN Expert Panel united on Ruddstra, not "weird" RFP
Professor Reginald Coutts says the Government's U-turn on the National Broadband Network is very much in the spirit of the recommendations the expert panel made in its report.
Source: iTnews Australia
Windows 7 fuels internet traffic, slows Tassie links
Australian ISPs have reported Akamai server traffic spikes of up to 50 percent as Windows 7 RC was released to the public, while Internode has blamed it for congestion on fibre links into Tasmania.
Source: iTnews Australia
Sony to sell movies, TV shows via PS3
Sony Australia plans to begin selling high-definition movies and TV shows via its PlayStation 3 as early as this year, hammering another nail in the coffin of the rigid free-to-air TV networks.
Source: SMH
Auditor-General to probe NBN decision
Federal Auditor-General Ian McPhee has revealed he will conduct a preliminary review of Labor's terminated National Broadband Network tender process.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 05th May 2009
Ruddnet divides a nation
The visionary thrust of Kevin Rudd's high-speed national broadband strategy focuses on providing a state-of-the-art, world's-best, communications platform for Australia. But there is a real political danger for the Rudd Government.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra up for sale - again
On the day the Federal Government announced it was going into the broadband cable business at a wild guesstimate of a headline-grabbing price, I heard a radio interview with an Optus spokesman memorable for the question not asked.
Source: SMH
Exetel says no to internet filtering
Exetel chief John Linton has ruled out selling an opt-in "clean feed" internet service to users as a result of last week's trial because the technology can be too easily bypassed.
Source: iTnews Australia