Broadband News

Sat, 23rd May 2020

Telstra 5G clocks 157 Mbps on average, says Opensignal

Telstra's 5G service is hitting average download speeds of 157 Mbps according to Opensignal's latest survey, placing it above average among the pack of telcos offering 5G services.

Source: iTnews Australia

Fri, 22nd May 2020

UK changes Huawei 5G stance, to eliminate gear by 2023: report

Ahead of a visit to the US in June, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to reduce the involvement of Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies in the country's 5G network to zero by the end of 2023, a report claims.

Source: iTWire

Foxtel's Streaming Service Binge: Everything You Need To Know

Foxtel's new streaming service has been announced after weeks of rumours and speculation. The upcoming addition, called Binge, will join a crowded market of streaming offerings competing for Australian dollars. Here's everything you need to know: including the price and how you can watch it.

Source: Gizmodo

Vodafone Australia and TPG merger: Everything you need to know

Earlier this week, the scheme booklet [PDF] for the proposed merger of TPG and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) was released to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Source: ZDNet Australia

Thu, 21st May 2020

NBN speeds, performance decline, then recover after COVID 19 demands: ACCC

NBN speeds and performance declined as Australians followed social distancing instructions to stay home due to COVID-19, but picked up following measures by NBN Co and streaming providers, according to the competition regulator, the ACCC.

Source: iTWire

New Optus mobile tower in Paget to improve coverage in Mackay

Singtel Optus has improved mobile coverage and connectivity in the south-east of Mackay with the commissioning of a new mobile tower in Paget.

Source: iTWire

Fastly outage hits world news websites

News websites including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age were affected on Thursday afternoon by an outage on content delivery network Fastly.

Source: SMH

It wasn't just you, the NBN was slower at the back end of March

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its first monthly edition of its Measuring Broadband Australia report on Thursday, which covered the performance of the National Broadband Network (NBN) between February and April.

Source: ZDNet Australia

ACCC questions consumer need for higher-priced 100Mbps NBN services

Australia’s competition watchdog took the unusual step of questioning whether consumers really needed to pay a premium for 100Mbps NBN services, given the performance characteristics of cheaper 50Mbps plans.

Source: iTnews Australia

Curtin Uni to launch 5G research lab with Optus

Optus and Curtin University have teamed up to use the telco’s nascent 5G network for teaching, research and industry collaboration and establish an on-campus 5G lab.

Source: iTnews Australia

Extra RSP network capacity sees NBN speeds recover

Speeds on the NBN have shown signs of recovery according to a new report, and the extra 40 per cent network capacity for RSPs is thought to mostly be the cause.

Source: ARN

Wed, 20th May 2020

Aussie Broadband cuts $10 per month from NBN prices for Click Frenzy

As part of Click Frenzy, Aussie Broadband has cut $10 per month from most of its NBN plans, excluding its entry-level NBN 12 plan and top-tier NBN 250 plan.

Source: WhistleOut

Tue, 19th May 2020

Telco complaints surge pinned on natural disasters

The number of complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman were up in the third quarter, with recent natural disasters cited as a backdrop to the increase.

Source: ARN

Vodafone's Click Frenzy deal gets you more data for less

Vodafone is slinging a $35 SIM-only plan with 25GB for Click Frenzy.

Source: WhistleOut

Grab Telstra's best SIM-only deal ever

Click Frenzy​ leads to some insane discounts, and Telstra has blown themselves out of the water offering one of the best Telstra deals to date.

Source: WhistleOut

Australian poll finds 1 in 8 blame Bill Gates and 5G for coronavirus

When it comes to believing stupid conspiracy theories related to coronavirus, young Australians are the most susceptible, or at least that's what they're telling pollsters.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Mon, 18th May 2020

Australians warned of ‘misinformation’ linking 5G and COVID 19

Australians have been warned about a campaign of misinformation linking 5G and the coronavirus, with the Federal Government urging confidence in the country’s stringent safety standards and decades of global scientific research about electromagnetic energy (EME).

Source: iTWire

Optus spent three years setting standards for its outsourced call centres

Optus has spent the past three years setting common standards and metrics across its offshore contact centre operations in India and the Philippines, leaning on data and analytics to get the sizable project done.

Source: iTnews Australia

Australian government justifies decision to go with AWS for COVIDSafe

The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has provided further detail on the federal government's COVIDSafe coronavirus trace tracking application, including around the procurement of the solution from Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Source: ZDNet Australia

Netflix Streaming Quality Is Coming Back In Europe, But We Don't Know About Australia Yet

Back in March Netflix reduced the bitrate of its streams in various parts of the world, including Australia, to help with network congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The streaming giant has begun returning its streaming quality to normal in some parts of Europe, but it can't confirm when this might happen in Australia.

Source: Gizmodo

Foxtel's Binge Streaming Service Launches Next Week, Here's Everything We Know

Foxtel's new streaming service is expected to launch next week after weeks of rumours and speculation. The upcoming addition, tipped to be called Binge, will join a crowded market of streaming offerings competing for Australian dollars.

Source: Gizmodo

Sun, 17th May 2020

COVID-19: Dodo, NBN Co offer 6 months of discounted access to online education services

Telco Dodo says it is helping school-aged children in low income households access online education services as part of a new offer in partnership with NBN Co, the operators of the National Boadband Network (NBN).

Source: iTWire

Fri, 15th May 2020

Telstra braces for fault ticket backlog

Telstra’s field service team is bracing for a backlog of ‘assurance’ work - and impatient customers - as COVID-19 restrictions are eased, after weeks of not being able to receive jobs.

Source: iTnews Australia

Thu, 14th May 2020

Broadband tax start date delayed to January 2021

Long-delayed legislation for a broadband tax on non-NBN Co operated fixed line services has finally passed parliament, ending an three-year saga that was interrupted by last year’s election.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN broadband tax clears Parliament

Australian fixed broadband users that are on networks capable of 25Mbps or quicker, and not connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN), will soon need to pay an extra AU$7.10 monthly charge to subsidise those connecting to NBN's loss-making fixed wireless and satellite technologies.

Source: ZDNet Australia

DGtek plans national FTTP expansion

Following an investment by Treia Capital, wholesale fibre broadband operator DGtek has expanded its coverage area more than tenfold in the last six months.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co sees Q3 revenue just shy of $3B

NBN Co has seen its revenue increase by 38 per cent to $2.8 billion in its Q3FY results, driven by strong demand in the quarter to reach its FY20 activation milestone two months early.

Source: ARN

NBN reports nine-month revenue up by over a third but EBITDA loss only closes by 9%

The company responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network (NBN) across Australia has reported its third-quarter earnings, with the company increasing revenue, closing its EBITDA loss, and reporting a wider EBIT loss.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra tries to stop customers 'falling through the cracks'

Telstra believes a new frontline consumer and small business support system will help resolve issues faster and prevent customers from “falling through the cracks like they may have previously”.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co exceeds quarterly revenue, activation targets, wins Government praise

The Federal Government says National Broadband Network operator NBN Co has demonstrated “operational and financial resilience” during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has welcomed the company’s “strong” 2019-20 third quarter results.

Source: iTWire