Broadband News
Wed, 05th Feb 2020
Telstra reveals broadband tax rules may be defined after bill is passed
Telstra says advice it has received from the Department of Communications suggests broadband tax laws will be pushed through parliament in their current state, with any lack of clarity left to regulators to navigate after the fact.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 04th Feb 2020
NBN Co has over 6000 'metro' premises in Sky Muster footprint
NBN Co has revealed over 6000 premises across six major metropolitan areas are now considered to fall within the Sky Muster satellite footprint.
Source: iTnews Australia
How many people really are watching 'The Mandalorian'? Data firms offer numbers that Disney and Netflix won't
For those obsessed with who is winning the video streaming wars, one metric matters: subscriber growth. But Netflix Inc and now Walt Disney Co - with its November launch of Disney+ - typically release that figure quarterly, leaving outsiders to guess at subscriber growth in any way they can.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 03rd Feb 2020
NBN testing short-term satellite connections for disaster recovery
The company responsible for deploying the National Broadband Network (NBN) around Australia is looking to test satellite-based connectivity at emergency evacuation centres.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co to create a satellite-based 'disaster service'
NBN Co is set to use its response to Australia’s bushfire crisis to create a formal product offering that can offer affected areas “interim” internet services delivered via the Sky Muster satellites.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 31st Jan 2020
Optus has been fined $504,000 for spamming Australians with texts and emails
Optus is fined after three-quarters of a million customers unsubscribed from the company's marketing texts and emails but continued to receive messages.
Source: ABC News
Australian government and opposition dismiss talk of revisiting Huawei 5G ban
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has dismissed talk of revisiting the ban slapped on Huawei that prevents it from supplying 5G equipment in Australia, in the face of the UK allowing Huawei into part of its 5G network earlier this week.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co may try buying into a SpaceX-like service for future Sky Muster
NBN Co is not set on putting more satellites of its own into orbit, and may instead look to buy into - or from - a low earth orbit constellation to power the next generation of its Sky Muster service.
Source: iTnews Australia
Thu, 30th Jan 2020
Telstra builds ACE chatbot for its field technicians
Telstra has created a chatbot for its technicians in the field that enables them to live chat with contact centre agents and draw upon data held in a central knowledge management system.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra calls for enterprise market to be exempt from NBN tax
Telstra has called for the enterprise market to be exempt from having to pay up under the proposed NBN levy scheme.
Source: ARN
NBN Co will stop direct deals with enterprise customers
NBN Co has yielded to industry blowback over its enterprise and government business, declaring it will stop contracting directly with users and share sales leads with retailers.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co moves to next stage of engagement with Retail Service Providers
NBN Co, the operator of the National Broadband Network, has announced the next phase of its engagement with Retail Service Providers (RSPs) and enterprise customers.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 29th Jan 2020
Aussie Broadband tops customer satisfaction ratings
Aussie Broadband has topped a Roy Morgan survey of over 1000 Australians to retain the top spot in customer satisfaction for the third month in a row. Aussie Broadband had a customer satisfaction score of 92% for November 2019, well ahead of Internode (79%), TPG (79%) and iPrimus (78%).
Source: Oz Broadband Speed Test
TPG suffers Australia-wide internet problems
Customers of TPG and its subsidiary brands suffered a two-hour outage of internet and voice services nationwide.
Source: iTnews Australia
TPG and iiNet customers need to change DNS to skirt outage
Users of TPG and its other brands such as iiNet were impacted by an outage that began at around 1:00 pm AEDT on Wednesday.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 28th Jan 2020
NBN to possibly purchase existing dark fibre for enterprise connections
In the face of mounting criticism towards the National Broadband Network (NBN) for overbuilding existing enterprise networks, the government-owned broadband wholesaler has released a consultation paper to discuss how it could procure dark fibre for customers served by existing networks.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co to stop overbuilding existing business fibre networks
NBN Co is set to stop overbuilding existing fibre connections to commercial buildings and instead use existing fibre - where possible - to serve enterprise and government customers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vocus wants govt to open up mobile blackspots scheme
Vocus wants the government to open its mobile blackspots scheme ahead of an $80 million sixth round in a way that encourages competition on federally co-funded mobile towers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vocus wants NBN structurally separated if direct sales team not binned
Vocus has continued its fight to get the National Broadband Network (NBN) to stick to what it was created for: Being a broadband wholesaler, and avoid entering into contracts with end-users.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mon, 27th Jan 2020
ACMA launches consultation on telecoms emergency call services amendments
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is undertaking public consultation on proposed amendments to the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 23rd Jan 2020
Telstra asks govt to delay broadband tax until mid-2021
Telstra has asked the government to delay the planned implementation of the broadband tax until mid-2021 to fix what it sees as a glaring problem in the scheme’s construct.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus breaks silence on NBN Co's enterprise behaviour
Optus has broken its silence on NBN Co’s behaviour in the enterprise market, asking the government to stop NBN Co from “overbuilding competitive infrastructure” and to refocus efforts and investment on underserved areas.
Source: iTnews Australia
Aussie Broadband opens new call centre, partners with Learn Local
Internet service provider Aussie Broadband has expanded its network, establishing a new call centre in the outer Melbourne suburb of Lynbrook, and partnering with Learn Local to help meet its staffing requirement for the centre.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 22nd Jan 2020
ACMA to review bushfire impact on Australian telco networks
Proposal floated to provide telcos access to emergency fuel stores for the purpose of providing generators with backup power during emergencies.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone tries, again, to force access to Telstra's regional mobile network
Vodafone is hoping to challenge one of the key grounds used by the ACCC to kill off a contentious bid two years ago to force Telstra's regional mobile network to be opened to rivals.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telsoc calls for Govt, political stakeholders to come together on bipartisan NBN strategy in ‘national interest’
Australia’s Telecommunications Association (Telsoc) has called for the Federal Government and all political stakeholders including the Opposition to come together to agree on a bipartisan strategy - in the national interest - to ensure that the National Broadband Network is technologically relevant and capable of delivering the services required by all Australians.
Source: iTWire
Telstra reveals 4x cost gap on 5G site builds
Telstra is expecting wide variation in the cost of deploying its 5G network, with some “macro” 5G sites four or more times more expensive to build than others.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 21st Jan 2020
Telstra may lose ground in regional Australia
Telstra may lose some of its traditional dominance in regional Australia as the NBN is completed, with the ACCC estimating up to 15 percent of the market could move to alternative providers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telco Circles.life donating data boost proceeds to bushfire disaster relief fund
Circles.life, the Singapore-based telco that promises a “more likeable than hateable experience” - and which launched in the Australian market in August - is donating all data boost proceeds to the the Red Cross for bushfire disaster relief and recovery.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co Sky Muster outage extends past 24 hours
NBN Co is now over 24 hours into an outage of its Sky Muster satellite service that is affecting “some” or a “portion” of its 96,385 users nationwide.
Source: iTnews Australia