Broadband News
Sat, 18th Apr 2009
Telstra takes cue from Government's fragile fibre snowflake
Signs that Telstra is sticking its head through the window the Rudd Government opened when it abandoned its first broadband plan and proposed a $43 billion fibre-to-the-home project are the most important dividend from the process so far.
Source: The Age
Fri, 17th Apr 2009
Queensland to give train commuters wireless internet access
A plan to give commuters wireless internet access on trains has shaken up state transport authorities.
Source: News Limited
Federal Government looks to cash in on mobile spectrum
The Federal Government has released a request for tender seeking a valuation of its mobile spectrum assets in the lead up to spectrum auctions.
Source: iTnews Australia
Minchin probes Henry's NBN advice
Shadow Communications Minister Nick Minchin has demanded the government prove that Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry advised it to go ahead with the $43 billion National Broadband Network project.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 16th Apr 2009
Telstra may bring PM's plan undone
We have the network for a national broadband system, so let's use it.
Source: The Age
Telstra questions keep mounting
Millions of Australians have an interest in Telstra either as shareholders or customers or through the Future Fund and superannuation funds. Many must now be wondering about the future of Australia's telecommunications giant. So are we. What is the future of Telstra? Nobody knows.
Source: SMH
Rudd takes mega bites from taxpayers' money tree
Just like water, taxpayers' money is an extremely scarce resource in the current climate. Yet Kevin Rudd just goes on spending as if there is a giant money tree growing in a corner of the prime ministerial courtyard.
Source: The Australian
PM orders high-fibre diet
Few communications technologies are as remarkable as fibre optics. Commercial fibre-optic cable first became available in 1981; since then hundreds of millions of cable kilometres have been laid across the world. Over the years, the quality of the cable has improved dramatically: by providing a progressively clearer transmission medium, fibre-optic cables have allowed vast increases in the volumes of information carried over the light waves they channel. Were the oceans as transparent as the cables that are now available, you would be able to stand in the middle of the Pacific and see the ocean floor.
Source: The Australian
Reseller drops AAPT for Telstra
Telecoms reseller and franchisor Telcoinabox has bucked the recessionary spend trend and signed a two-year deal to wholesale Telstra's ADSL2+ internet services to its business customers.
Source: Australian IT
Wed, 15th Apr 2009
States vie to be broadband base
A three-way squabble over Kevin Rudd's broadband bonanza has erupted, with the Victorian and NSW governments yesterday countering Queensland Premier Anna Bligh's pitch that Brisbane is the best place to base the $43 billion cable rollout.
Source: Australian IT
No price hike for fast broadband
Consumers would pay about the same for the Government's proposed new super-fast broadband service as they do now for a much inferior product, the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, said.
Source: SMH
ISPs may be liable for illegal downloads
The NSW Federal Court has not ruled out the possibility that an ISP could be in direct breach of copyright laws if it provides internet service to individuals that illegally share files on peer-to-peer networks.
Source: Australian IT
3 begins Next G roaming
3 has begun to enable its new 3G roaming on Telstra's Next G network, but not all areas will get access to the alternative network.
Source: Whirlpool
Tasmania to hold NBN tender
Tasmanian carrier Aurora today confirmed it was planning to initiate a tender process to find vendors for goods and services associated with the roll-out of the $43 billion National Broadband Network in the state.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 14th Apr 2009
Telstra taskforce to deal with $43bn broadband plan
Telstra has formed a high-powered taskforce to manage negotiations with the Government over the planned $43 billion national broadband network (NBN).
Source: The Age
Telstra ploughs on with upgrade despite Rudd proposal
Telstra has no plans to delay the upgrade of its hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) cable in Melbourne, despite government broadband plans that may make such spending unnecessary.
Source: The Australian
Ruddnet is too good to be true
Kevin Rudd promised a broadband revolution if he became prime minister. A state-of-the-art, fibre-to-the-node broadband would reach 98 per cent of the population. It would be built by the private sector with a $4.7 billion investment from theGovernment.
Source: The Australian
Telstra open to break-up as broadband plan forces telecom to overhaul strategy
Telstra will consider a voluntary separation of its wholesale and retail arms as well as the sale of some assets to the federal Government's proposed $43 billion broadband network in a spectacular about-face that effectively dumps the aggressive four-year strategy championed by chairman Donald McGauchie and chief executive Sol Trujillo.
Source: The Australian
iiNet thumbs nose at AFACT
iiNet has not admitted that any particular users have been infringing copyright in the next step for the court case brought against it by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Turnbull attacks 'Rudd Net' broadband
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull says the Government's proposed $43 billion national broadband network will never be commercially viable and has demanded the Government show evidence of what its commercial return might be.
Source: ABC News
Mon, 13th Apr 2009
Push for bush broadband rollout
The Federal Government's $43billion national broadband network could hinge on work starting first in the bush, key cross-bench senators say.
Source: The Canberra Times
Telstra's $300m upgrade in doubt
Telstra faces having to ditch a much-touted $300 million upgrade of its cable network - a core part of its revised strategy revealed last month - because of the Federal Government's surprise broadband decision last week.
Source: SMH
Video to rule in new broadband network
rollout of the $43 billion national broadband network could spark a new wave of allegiances between broadcast TV networks and online portals as video becomes the predominant form of data sent online.
Source: Australian IT
Sun, 12th Apr 2009
Rural gaps in broadband network plan
Mt Isa will be one of the first cities to benefit from the new National Broadband Network, but almost 200 towns across the state could be left behind when the superfast service rolls out.
Source: The Courier-Mail
Sat, 11th Apr 2009
Australia's broadband goals may bring a web of hysteria
Cyber-phobia is reaching epic proportion.
Source: Sun Herald
Rudd's broadband network could worthwhile -- if it works
Until this week, planning for a national broadband network was based on "fibre to the node".
Source: Herald Sun
Node plan was wasteful, Kevin Rudd told
About 70 per cent of the $10billion-plus price tag for the Rudd Government's now abandoned plan for a fibre-to-the-node broadband network would have been wasted when a faster fibre-to-the-home network was built subsequently, the Government was advised.
Source: The Australian
Telstra faces tough choices on FTTH broadband plan
Despite the regulatory sword of Damocles hanging over Telstra, the market has adjudged that the telco's profits, earnings and share price will continue within guidance levels, at least for the near future.
Source: The Australian
Thu, 09th Apr 2009
Turbo-charged broadband hits Tasmania
The Hanlon family of Hobart are big fans of Kevin Rudd's new super-fast broadband.
Source: Australian IT
Australians may pay '$200 a month for broadband'
The Government's broadband network could end up costing Australians $200 a month for fast internet access, according to pessimistic predictions from the nation's third biggest telco.
Source: ABC News