Broadband News

Tue, 28th Apr 2020

When will the NBN Co reveal plans for upgrading the network?

The NBN Co, the venerable entity that has put in place the national broadband network, was in great spirits on Monday. proclaiming that it was ahead of its targets as far as activation of homes for connecting goes.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 27th Apr 2020

Optus facing class action over White Pages leak

Optus is facing a class action for an alleged data breach that saw roughly 50,000 customers’ details leaked to White Pages.

Source: ARN

NBN Co gets wishlist to compete for new housing estate work

NBN Co is set to be given more flexibility to set prices and compete for business in new housing developments under draft policy changes floated by the government.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co says broadband network rollout ahead of schedule, nearing completion

NBN Co, the operators of the National Broadband Network, is claiming an earlier than planned activation of connections to the network for more than seven million homes and businesses across Australia.

Source: iTWire

Optus switches on new tower at Victoria’s Baranduda Ranges to alleviate telecoms black spot

Optus has switched on a new tower in the Baranduda Ranges in regional Victoria as it continues the rollout of sites as part of the Federal Government’s mobile blackspot program.

Source: iTWire

Fri, 24th Apr 2020

ACMA halts telco compliance policing amid COVID-19

​Telecommunications providers have been granted a brief reprieve from enforcement action by Australia’s communications watchdog during the coronavirus crisis.

Source: ARN

Thu, 23rd Apr 2020

Telstra to provide 21k more dongles to Victorian students for remote learning

A further 21,000 Telstra internet dongles will be made available to Victorian public school students to ensure they can continue to learn from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 22nd Apr 2020

NBN Co expects to pick up broadband tab of 300,000 businesses

NBN Co has revealed its internal modelling shows around 300,000 businesses are likely to be unable to pay their NBN bills in part or in full between now and October.

Source: iTnews Australia

Tue, 21st Apr 2020

Aussie Broadband starts rolling its own fibre to NBN POIs

Aussie Broadband has started work on its own dark fibre network that will ultimately connect to over 75 NBN points of interconnect and 24 data centres across Australia.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus gets set to build another 83 mobile sites in federal black spot program

​Optus has secured further Federal and State Government funding to build 83 new mobile transmission sites as part of the fifth round of the Federal Government’s Mobile Black Spot program.

Source: ARN

Govt calls snap review of mobile blackspots program after fifth round tanks

The government will rejig its mobile blackspots program after it was left holding 58 percent of the cash allocated for round five, and amid industry threats to skip future rounds. 

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 20th Apr 2020

Australia plans law forcing Google, Facebook to share ad revenue with domestic media firms

Australia will pass legislation within months obliging Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google to share advertising revenue with local media firms, the country's treasurer said on Monday, becoming one of the first countries to require digital platforms to pay for content they use.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co creates new basic Sky Muster Plus tier for low-income internet offer

NBN Co will put currently unconnected low-income families in its satellite footprint on a Sky Muster Plus service but with a much smaller metered data allowance than normal.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sat, 18th Apr 2020

Superloop uses NBN scheme to offer free broadband to 5000 low-income homes

Superloop Home Broadband will offer 5000 currently unconnected low-income households free NBN services until the end of September, utilising a new scheme and temporary price promotion run by NBN Co.

Source: iTnews Australia

Fri, 17th Apr 2020

Australian NBN peak total upstream traffic barely lifts over 1Tbps

Whereas the downstream traffic profile on Australia's National Broadband Network has retained an identifiable evening busy period, for the upstream profile, it is much less so.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Apple, Google technology a safer bet for Canberra's COVID-19 app

Australia's COVID-19 tracing app would be more secure and trustworthy if it used the tech giants' new privacy-focused method, experts say.

Source: SMH

NBN stumps up for AU$150 million COVID-19 relief fund

Money to be directed to low-income households with children at school and struggling small and medium-sized businesses.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co to temporarily cut internet costs for low-income families

NBN Co will temporarily waive wholesale costs for low-income families with school-aged children and other customers suffering financial hardship under a $150 million scheme.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN uploads soar during COVID-19 lockdown

The NBN has seen a substantial increase in upload traffic as the COVID-19 lockdown changes the way we use the internet.

Source: iTWire

Thu, 16th Apr 2020

Optus is using call centre 'microsites' in the Philippines

Optus is taking major steps to rebuild capacity for customer care, retraining 1500 existing Australian staff while setting up call centre “microsites” in the Philippines to get operations there back online.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra pushes for a full breakdown of NBN Co's costs

Telstra wants NBN Co to break down its costs “by technology type and customer type”, a move that would expose the presence of any cross-subsidies between internet products.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACMA still responding to telecoms industry need for 'regulatory relief' due to COVID 19

The telecommunications regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says it is continuing to respond to industry requests for regulatory relief and other actions due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 14th Apr 2020

Ditch the NBN: 4G/5G home wireless alternatives

It's an unfortunate reality that some unlucky Australian homes and businesses aren't having such a great time online. Plenty of NBN connections work just fine. But some can be slow, congested or maybe haven't even been installed yet.

Source: WhistleOut

Telstra extends unlimited home broadband offer until the end of June

Telstra announced on Tuesday afternoon that its unlimited data offer for home broadband customers that was slated to end in April would be extended to the end of June. 

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus looks to 'true 5G' to unseat Telstra in the enterprise

Optus is hoping the arrival of “true 5G” technology - and speeds in excess of 20Gbps - will lead to a shake-out of the enterprise telecommunications market.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra extends COVID-19 concessions

Telstra has extended the duration of its COVID-19 customer support measures to the end of June 2020.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 13th Apr 2020

COVID-19 crisis pushes up NBN data demand as online work grows with home self-isolation

The COVID-19 crisis has seen data demand during daytime business hours continue to grow on the National Broadband Network as more Australians self-isolate and shift their work, education and entertainment needs online, according to operators of the network, NBN Co.

Source: iTWire

Facebook comments manifest into real world as neo-luddites torch 5G towers

It shouldn't be surprising that some people eventually read so many conspiracy theories on social media that they decide to attack, possibly over 20 times, what they see as a great intrusion and potential killing machine -- the machine in question goes by the name of 5G.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Thu, 09th Apr 2020

Vocus returns Dodo, iPrimus contact centres to 85 percent capacity

Vocus has brought contact centre operations for its internet brands iPrimus and Dodo back up to 85 percent capacity after a “tough few weeks” for its teams in Australia and the Philippines.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co starts testing feasibility of mmWave for future fixed wireless

NBN Co has commenced feasibility trials for the delivery of broadband services in millimetre-wave spectrum, which it sees as a potential long-term upgrade path for its current fixed wireless footprint.

Source: iTnews Australia