Broadband News
Mon, 30th Mar 2020
Australia 86th of 159 countries when it comes to cost per Mbps
Australia stands 86th in the world when it comes to the cost of an Mbps of broadband data, according to a study by vouchercloud, a company that belongs to the global e-commerce marketplace Groupon. The data showed that Australians pay US$1.15 (A$1.86) per Mbps.
Source: iTWire
No large files during day and evening, Comms Alliance pleads
Australia's telecommunications industry body the Communications Alliance is asking broadband subscribers to consider ways to lower data traffic during peak hours to mitigate network overloading caused by an increasing number of people self-isolating and working from home.
Source: iTnews Australia
Aussie Broadband rallies industry behind NBN Co
Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt is rallying internet providers to get behind NBN Co and its team as they put in “insane hours” and alter work practices “to keep everything running” for internet users.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 27th Mar 2020
Telstra tells iOS users to stay home
Australian incumbent telco Telstra is telling users of iOS devices to stay inside and not come out.
Source: ZDNet Australia
COVID-19 lockdowns, self-isolation measures put Internet under pressure
Internet infrastructure is being put under significant pressure as rolling lockdowns begin to bite as COVID-19 and associated self-isolation measures transform working practices, according to data from a commercial spin-off from Monash University.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 26th Mar 2020
Telstra cuts up to $15 per month from mobile broadband plans for 12 months
Telstra has cut the price of the majority of its mobile broadband plans by between $10 and $15 per month, with plan prices now starting at $15 per month for 10GB.
Source: WhistleOut
Optus is bringing onboard 500 new customer care staff
Optus is putting on 500 new staff in customer service and support, including 300 who will start tomorrow, to rebuild capacity in the wake of call centre closures offshore.
Source: iTnews Australia
Foxtel Gives Customers Extra Channels For Free During Coronavirus Pandemic
Foxtel has announced that it will be providing its customers with extra content and screen usage for free as COVID-19 keeps more people at home.
Source: Gizmodo
TPG receives tick from US for Vodafone Australia merger
A month after the Federal Court of Australia approved the merger of TPG and Vodafone Hutchison, the transaction has received the tick of approval from US regulators. US approval was needed as one of TPG's subsea cables passes through the US territory of Guam.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 25th Mar 2020
Optus adds 4G backup to NBN plans
Optus has followed the lead of Telstra and Vodafone, adding a modem with 4G backup to its range of NBN plans.
Source: WhistleOut
Peak evening demand still the network capacity challenge
One of the lovely things about local telco Aussie Broadband is that it publicly shows the capacity of its NBN customer network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telcos send out millions of COVID-19 SMSs for Aus government
Australia’s mobile operators are in the process of sending batches of text messages to millions of Australians on the government’s behalf to warn them about the coronavirus.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co boosts data for rural and regional Sky Muster users
NBN Co has increased data allowances for regional and remote customers using Sky Muster services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: ARN
NBN Co to unmeter over 70 percent of traffic on Sky Muster Plus
NBN Co will permanently unmeter all internet traffic bar “video streaming and VPN” on its Sky Muster Plus service, with the government saying as much as 70 percent of usage will now be covered.
Source: iTnews Australia
This is no time to talk of upgrading the NBN to fibre
There was a time when it made sense to suggest to the Federal Government ways and means of upgrading the national broadband network to an all-fibre one. But that time is not now, not when the country is battling hard to keep the outbreak of a disease under control, not when the financial aid and plans that deliver it to individuals out of work should be immediate.
Source: iTWire
Covid-19 puts extra strain on Internet, telcos urged to purchase more capacity
One in three (39%) Australians already face regular streaming dropouts and the demand for the Internet is about to surge as more Australians remain housebound due to the Covit-19 pandemic, according to comparison website Finder which says telcos should purchase more capacity from the NBN to help Internet users working from home through the crisis.
Source: iTWire
Tue, 24th Mar 2020
How much data does Zoom use?
Do you have enough data for all your Zoom video meetings?
Source: WhistleOut
Every telco's COVID-19 assistance package
With much of the nation being urged to work from home, and schools and universities preparing to shift to online learning, our telcos are recognising how important it is for us to stay connected.
Source: WhistleOut
Telstra reveals 20x call volume increase to govt call centres
Telstra is working to improve interconnection, capacity and routing of voice calls as its networks are hammered by large increases in call volumes.
Source: iTnews Australia
Netflix to crunch streaming bandwidth to ease broadband congestion
US entertainment giant Netflix will reduce the data its streaming service in Australia consumes in a bid to reduce the congestion on the National Broadband Network caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: SMH
Telstra voice services impacted by high number of calls to government agencies
The fallout of Australians rushing to sign up to government services as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the planet has created congestion in Telstra's voice network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
As more people work from home, Telstra's Penn makes silly plea
In the midst of any national crisis, it is common to find people who want to make themselves heard somehow, even if they can only do so by making the most stupid statements possible. That is clearly the case with the utterance issued by Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn who has called on Australians to be more mindful of how they use the Internet.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 23rd Mar 2020
Telstra closes 23 stores nationwide
Telstra has moved to close 23 of its 350 stores around the country, as the telco works to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Source: ARN
Netflix to slash traffic across Europe to relieve virus strain on internet providers
Netflix Inc said it will cut traffic by 25 percent on networks across Europe in a relief measure for internet service providers (ISPs) experiencing a surge in usage due to government "shelter in place" orders aimed at slowing the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: iTnews Australia
YouTube, Amazon Prime forgo streaming quality to relieve European networks
YouTube and Amazon Prime will sacrifice streaming quality in the EU to help avert internet gridlock as tens of millions of Europeans, confined by the coronavirus outbreak, switch to working from home.
Source: iTnews Australia
New NBN connections added by up to 40,000 weekly
Thirty thousand to 40,000 additional connections are being made every week to the National Broadband Network as the rollout of the network continues.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 20th Mar 2020
Telstra brand hijacked as coronavirus-themed scams hit Aussies
Telstra is among the local companies whose brands have been hijacked by online scammers trying to make a buck from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Source: ARN
Telstra pauses job cuts for six months, to hire 1000 extra call centre staff
Staff at Telstra on the chopping block as part of its aggressive T22 restructuring plan have been granted a six-month reprieve to complement economic stimulus efforts in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra halts redundancies for 6 months amid COVID-19 pandemic
Telstra has frozen its headcount reduction program for six months as the coronavirus pandemic creates unprecedented demand on its network and services.
Source: ARN
Coronavirus response sees Telstra pause job cuts for six months
Telco to hire 1,000 temporary call centre workers in Australia and bring forward AU$500 million of 5G network spend.
Source: ZDNet Australia