Broadband News

Fri, 29th May 2020

NBNCo boosts broadband network speeds to satisfy ‘customer demands’ for higher speeds

National Broadband Network operator NBN Co has launched new higher speed Internet plans in response to what it says has been strong demand for higher speed services from new customers. The plans include a new “close to” 1Gbps service.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co limits gigabit services to just 7 percent of HFC footprint

NBN Co has revealed it won’t offer 250 Mbps and up to gigabit speeds to its entire HFC footprint, constraining availability of the new high-speed plans to a subset of HFC users for at least a year.

Source: iTnews Australia

Thu, 28th May 2020

Telstra's Super Savings start at $240 for this year's smartphones and more

Handsets like the iPhone XS and Samsung Galaxy S20 will get a $10 discount every month for 24 months, but others like the Galaxy A90 and Pixel 4 will get the discount along with a heavily reduced outright phone cost on top.

Source: WhistleOut

Broadband data demand remains above pre-COVID-19 levels: NBN Co

Broadband data demand on the National Broadband Network’s main wholesale access service has remained above pre-COVID 19 levels, according to the network operator, NBN Co.

Source: iTWire

Aussie Broadband claims first NBN portal for service managers

Aussie Broadband has updated its end-to-end online sign-up for enterprise NBN services to encompass businesses and MSPs, claiming it is the first to do so at this scale.

Source: ARN

Aussie Broadband to let business customers self-serve NBN, value-adds

Aussie Broadband is hoping a new self-service platform called Carbon will help differentiate it in the business market by enabling customers (and managed services partners) to provision NBN internet and value-adds like phone systems quickly and from one place.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus annual profit plummets 40% to $402M after Q4 hammering

Optus’ annual profit has sunk by 40 per cent to $402 million after its fourth quarter saw a particular steep plummet.

Source: ARN

Australian telcos cold on dynamic spectrum sharing for 5G, wireless

Australia will shelve investigations of dynamic spectrum access (DSA) for future 5G and wireless networks after the idea failed to gain traction with industry.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 27th May 2020

NBN Co quotes at least 1200 customers on a switch to full fibre

NBN Co has seen a sizeable increase in the amount of quotes issued to customers wanting to pay their own way to a faster access technology over the past three years.

Source: iTnews Australia

Spirit launches NBN Enterprise Ethernet to the channel

​Publicly listed Spirit Telecom has launched its NBN Enterprise Ethernet (NBN EE) to its resellers and customers via its Spirit X sales platform.

Source: ARN

Tue, 26th May 2020

Aussie Broadband's 250 Mbps NBN sign-up spurt continues

Aussie Broadband continues to dominate sign-ups in NBN tiers above 100 Mbps, recording a 47 percent rise in 250 Mbps services in the three months to the end of March.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co faces fresh pressure not to fully unwind free bandwidth boost

NBN Co is under renewed pressure to maintain some of the free bandwidth boost it has offered during the coronavirus lockdown period after its own research indicated that elevated demand for internet could extend beyond July.

Source: iTnews Australia

Aussie Broadband throws 1Gbps speeds at full fibre and HFC users

Aussie Broadband has said that from Friday, May 29, it will begin offering a 1000/50Mbps plan on the National Broadband Network (NBN) to its customers.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Aussie Broadband to offer 'best effort' gigabit NBN plans for $149

Aussie Broadband is set to launch up to gigabit speed residential NBN plans at the end of this week, priced at $149 a month.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN research shows 8 in 10 agree fast broadband helped with job productivity

Research released by the company responsible for deploying the National Broadband Network (NBN) has revealed how 83% of respondents said they could not have completed their jobs without access to fast broadband.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Telstra's latest hotspot promises faster 5G speeds, but we won't see them until next year

Telstra is expanding its range of 5G devices with the Telstra 5G Wi-Fi Pro, a new 5G portable hotspot that supports higher speed mmWave 5G. This makes it the first mobile broadband device in Australia that can connect to both Sub 6 and mmWave 5G networks. Of course, mmWave 5G is still a while off in Australia.

Source: WhistleOut

Mon, 25th May 2020

Aussie Broadband offers 1Gbps on fibre and HFC

Gigabit NBN plans have been few and far between, but Aussie Broadband is about to join the market.

Source: iTWire

More than 7m Australians can now connect to the NBN

More than seven million Australians are connected to the national broadband network after 455,000 new services were activated in the first quarter of 2020.

Source: iTWire

Telstra claims 5G rollout ahead of schedule, 47 cities covered

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Telstra claims it is ahead of its schedule as far as providing 5G coverage in Australia goes, with 47 cities now able to use the technology.

Source: iTWire

Optus takes up to $850 off handsets in EOFY sales

The next lot of discounts expected to hit Australians come from End of Financial Year sales, Optus​ is starting the celebrations early with savings of up to $850 on selected devices.

Source: WhistleOut

A new streaming service in Australia is aiming to 'kill the scroll'

Foxtel launches its new TV and movie subscription platform Binge, hoping a focus on strong brands and less reliance on algorithms will help it succeed in an increasingly crowded market.

Source: ABC News

Telstra CEO wants NBN upgrade paths reflected in govt policy

Telstra CEO Andy Penn wants a “long term” strategy for Australian telecommunications to be developed with government, spelling out upgrade paths for the NBN and removing barriers to 5G and edge compute deployments.

Source: iTnews Australia

AFP has issued the United States with 98 telco data requests since 2014

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has provided a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) for its review of the nation's pending Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Production Orders) Bill 2020 (IPO Bill) after failing to do so when the committee called for submissions earlier this year.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Sun, 24th May 2020

UK eyes cuts to Huawei's 5G network involvement in wake of COVID-19 - report

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to reduce Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's involvement in Britain's 5G network in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

Source: iTnews Australia

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