Broadband News

Thu, 10th Oct 2019

Telstra's Belong to expand intelligent automation

Telstra-owned Belong is setting up an intelligent automation guild to power an expansion of the technology across the organisation.

Source: iTnews Australia

Vocus calls for rewrite of NBN statement of expectations

Vocus chief executive Kevin Russell has called on the government to issue a new statement of expectations for NBN Co on how it should behave in the enterprise market.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 09th Oct 2019

Vodafone flags 130 job cuts at Hobart call centre

Vodafone Australia is proposing cuts of 130 roles at its Hobart contact centre under a restructure.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co gave Macquarie Telecom pricing details months before competitors

The ACCC has formally warned NBN Co for offering materially different commercial terms to different RSPs​ and giving preferential treatment to Macquarie Telecom.

Source: ARN

ACCC warns NBN Co over playing favourites with RSPs

The Australian competition watchdog has warned NBN Co, the company rolling out broadband in the country, about discriminating between retail service providers when it comes to supplying upgraded infrastructure to business customers.

Source: iTWire

Telstra to switch off 3G network in June 2024

Telstra will shut down its 3G network in June 2024 amid efforts to free up infrastructure and bandwidth resources to ramp up its 4G and 5G presence.

Source: ARN

Telstra flags 3G switch off planned for 2024

Australia's incumbent telco Telstra has announced it is planning to switch off its 3G network in June 2024 and refarm the spectrum for its 5G network.

Source: ZDNet Australia

NBN Co wants to fix your home wi-fi

NBN Co is hoping to add a “tool, firmware agent, or feature” to wi-fi gateways in selected people’s homes to collect telemetry that can help it troubleshoot the in-home portion of internet connections.

Source: iTnews Australia

Aussie Broadband automates enterprise NBN ordering

Aussie Broadband already processes automatically almost 90% of its residential and small business NBN orders, and is now extending this capability to enterprise NBN services.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 08th Oct 2019

Telstra cuts uplink speeds early in NBN fixed wireless shift

Internet providers are starting to move 151,000 users from the old NBN 50Mbps fixed wireless product to a new “best effort” service, but some customers will get more constrained uplink speeds from day one.

Source: iTnews Australia

Australians attracted to connecting tablets to mobile networks

Two in five Australians (46%) are interested in connecting their tablets to mobile networks, especially if it can be connected using a mobile data sharing plan, according to a new forecast from technology analyst firm Telsyte.

Source: iTWire

Spirit of Tasmania passengers get new high-speed satellite internet service

Passengers on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry service between Devonport and Melbourne now have access to high-speed internet, with a partnership by the ferry operators with Australian satellite internet provider, IPSTAR Broadband.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co rezones businesses for cheaper pricing

NBN Co is hoping to encourage more businesses to switch to its enterprise products by lowering their connection costs from Wednesday this week.

Source: iTnews Australia

Fri, 04th Oct 2019

Telstra brings free station wi-fi to NSW Central Coast

Commuters should start to notice isolated improvements to mobile coverage along the NSW Central Coast rail corridor, with the first stretches of track now fitted with new mobile base stations and free station wi-fi.

Source: iTnews Australia

Netflix jacks up Australian prices

Bad news everyone, Netflix is getting more expensive in Australia. The streaming giant today increased its Premium plan pricing from $17.99 per month to $19.99 per month. Mercifully, pricing hasn't changed on Netflix's Basic and Standard plans, which are still $9.99 and $13.99 per month, respectively.

Source: WhistleOut

Thu, 03rd Oct 2019

Telstra officially holds 25 per cent of Southern Cross NEXT

​Spark New Zealand has announced that Telstra now holds 25 per cent of shares in the Southern Cross NEXT.

Source: ARN

Australians hold on to $8 billion worth of secondhand mobile phones

Mobile phones worth $8.08 billion are sitting unused in Australian homes with owners missing out on cashing in by selling their old phones and putting the cash towards a new replacement mobile, according to online retailer eBay.

Source: iTWire

Wed, 02nd Oct 2019

Huawei supports VHA-TPG merger

Huawei Australia has submitted four affidavits to TPG Telecom in order to support its joint application with Vodafone Hutchinson Australia (VHA) in the matter of the proposed merger.

Source: Computerworld

Aussie Broadband preparing for ASX listing

Aussie Broadband is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) on the ASX in 2020, the telco's managing director Phillip Britt has confirmed.

Source: ARN

Southern Cross NEXT Cable enters construction phase

The trans-Pacific Southern Cross NEXT Cable has now entered the construction phase with the project achieving CIF (Contract in Force).

Source: iTWire

Aussie Broadband wants NBN congestion rebates extended to FttN

Aussie Broadband has called for the company responsible for the National Broadband Network (NBN) to pay retailers a rebate on localised fibre-to-the-node (FttN) congestion, following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Tuesday flagging a similar AU$20 charge for congested fixed wireless nodes.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Tue, 01st Oct 2019

Aussie Broadband suggests NBN Co pay $150 for missed appointments

NBN Co should be forced to pay “closer to $150” every time its technicians miss a scheduled appointment, according to Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt.

Source: iTnews Australia

ACCC proposes bigger rebates, new measures to boost NBN standards

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has proposed new terms aimed at improving NBN Co’s wholesale service levels, including a reworked rebate structure increasing the size of rebates for missed appointments, late connections and unresolved faults.

Source: iTWire

NBN Co faces stiffer financial hits for underperformance

The NBN Co will be subjected to bigger financial hits if new proposals tabled by Australia’s consumer watchdog are enforced.

Source: ARN

NBN Co faces $30-a-day fines for unfixed faults

NBN Co is set to be fined $13.50 per business day - capped at $270 - for late or delayed connections to its network, and up to $30 a day - capped at $1150 - for slow fault fixes, under sweeping new service standards proposed today.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra cleared to increase Southern Cross Cable stake

Telstra has signed agreements with Southern Cross Cable Network and received regulatory approval to become a 25 per cent shareholder of the subsea circuit operator, as mooted late last year.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 30th Sep 2019

Telstra’s 4GX service upgrade project commenced for Tasmania’s west coast

Work has commenced on a project to bring Telstra’s 4GX connectivity to the west coast of Tasmania.

Source: ARN

Optus moves ahead with 5G rollout, releases new Samsung, Oppo plans

Optus continues the national rollout of its 5G network and has boosted its 5G plans on offer, announcing the availability of Samsung Galaxy S10 and Oppo Reno 5G handsets, as it prepares to reveal further plans for the rollout in coming weeks.

Source: iTWire

Vocus completes final splice of Coral Sea Cable System

Vocus has completed the final splice of the Coral Sea Cable System which is set to improve connectivity between Australia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Source: Computerworld

Fri, 27th Sep 2019

Optus has two more 5G smartphones: Galaxy S10 5G & OPPO Reno 5G

Optus is expanding its range of 5G smartphones, but coverage is still quite limited.

Source: WhistleOut