Broadband News
Mon, 25th Nov 2019
NBN Co has "difficulty competing" for new housing estate jobs
NBN Co’s ability to compete with commercial operators that build telecommunications networks in new housing estates is being tested, with the government plotting to intervene.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus mobile plan shake up forgoes 5G charges
Optus is finally shaking up its mobile plan structure, simplifying from what was the most complex plans of Australia's top telcos.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fri, 22nd Nov 2019
Get 12 months of Amazon Prime on select Vodafone plans
Vodafone is throwing in a year of Amazon Prime if you pick up a new Samsung smartphone.
Source: WhistleOut
NBN and energy overhaul at the centre of Albanese's economic pitch
Labor leader Anthony Albanese uses the second of his so-called vision speeches to call for an end to energy-policy paralysis and improvements to the national broadband network to boost productivity.
Source: ABC News
NBN Co helps staff solve awkward questions at social events
NBN Co built a self-service app that its staff can use when hit up at social functions by family, friends and randoms for technical and troubleshooting assistance.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra and Belong to contact customers on slow NBN connections, says ACCC
Yesterday afternoon, the ACCC announced that Telstra and Belong will be contacting customers who are not receiving the maximum speed available on their NBN plan.
Source: WhistleOut
S&P does not expect 5G threat to NBN in the short to medium term
Credit ratings agency S&P Global Ratings has said it does not expect 5G fixed wireless broadband networks to replace the NBN in the near-to-medium term, due to heavy capital spending and the fact that some players were stretched financially.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 21st Nov 2019
Telstra's free NBN speed boost backfires
A goodwill gesture by Telstra that upgraded 770,000 NBN customers to higher speed plans for free partially backfired when some customers’ lines couldn’t support the newfound gains.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra to contact NBN customers on slow services
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced on Thursday that Telstra will be contacting its consumers with NBN plans that are at higher speeds than their connection can handle.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra, contacting customers with slow NBN speeds
Customers of Telstra and its subsidiary broadband provider, Belong, that upgraded to higher-speed NBN plans will be proactively contacted if they are not getting the maximum speed available under the plan.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co looks to retain customers and grow their “lifetime value”
NBN Co has reinforced its Salesforce stack to span seven “clouds” as it prepares to shift from a phase of customer acquisition to retention and growth of the “lifetime value” of customers to the company.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 20th Nov 2019
NBN Co rolls out ‘Network on Wheels’ to mitigate bushfire damage
NBN Co says it has deployed on of its ‘Network on Wheels’ trailers in an effort to keep online more than 3000 broadband services in the Mid North Coast.
Source: ARN
NBN apologises after worker 'smashes up' asbestos near home without proper warning
When a worker in a hazmat suit erected danger tape across his driveway and began extracting asbestos from a pit, an Albany father wondered why he wasn't notified.
Source: ABC News
NBN Co claims internet providers will milk it for rebates
NBN Co has preemptively accused internet providers of harbouring a desire to milk higher rebates on faulty or slow services for “windfall gains”, even if it prolongs problems for their own customers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 19th Nov 2019
ACCC chief warns digital takeovers of rivals pose threat to consumer choice, privacy
The chief of Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC, Rod Sims has warned that the takeovers of smaller rivals by digital platforms, including their data sets, may pose a threat to consumers’ choice and privacy.
Source: iTWire
ACMA requests ISPs to block two illegal offshore gambling websites
The telecoms regulator ACMA has requested Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block illegal offshore gambling websites Emu Casino and Fair Go Casino.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co says no need for any ACCC intervention in service standards
The NBN Co, the company rolling out Australia's broadband network, has questioned the need for any regulatory intervention into its wholesale service standards at this time as, in its view, the ACCC's draft decision on these aspects had not provided any evidence of market failure.
Source: iTWire
Optus welcomes ACCC draft determination on NBN wholesale service standards
Australia's second biggest telco Optus has welcomed the draft decision by the ACCC stemming from its NBN wholesale service standards inquiry, saying that the inquiry should hold the NBN Co to account for service standards expected by retail service providers and end-users.
Source: iTWire
Under-fire Telstra takes action to buy back debt on remote rip-off contracts
The telco says it will refund debts of more than $1,000 for customers sold mobile phones and contracts they could not afford.
Source: ABC News
Mon, 18th Nov 2019
Some of NBN's 8,000 non-serviceable premises waiting over 36 months: Telstra
The company responsible for deploying the National Broadband Network across Australia is leaving multiple thousands of premises behind in its rollout, Telstra has said.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co is skipping 'thousands' of premises a month
NBN Co is leaving progressively more premises unable to connect to its network for two or more years, new statistics from Telstra show.
Source: iTnews Australia
Vodafone wants NBN connections to match ‘sticker’ speeds
Vodafone has backed an idea floated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that would see NBN Co introducing a speed ‘buffer’ so that a household’s broadband connection more closely matches its wholesale speed tier.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co threatens to halt future FTTN upgrades
NBN Co claims future - presumably discretionary - upgrades of its fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) services and to “rehabilitation of the copper network” are under threat because of a punitive rebate scheme proposed by regulators.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 15th Nov 2019
Telstra claims policy and framework needed for 5G rollout
Telstra has called for the establishment of a policy and regulatory framework for investment and innovation in business and other use cases.
Source: ARN
NBN increasing 12Mbps connections for first time in a year: ACCC
After peaking at 1.2 million premises at this time last year, and heading downward for the following twelve months, the number of premises on NBN's 12/1Mbps plans is once again headed in an upward trajectory.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN migrations boost Optus revenue, but 1H profit drops
Optus saw an increase in customers and higher NBN migration payments which helped the telco's revenue grow 1.8 per cent, to $4.4 billion for the half year ended 30 September but that was not enough to help Optus' profit.
Source: Computerworld
Uptake of NBN Co’s slowest speed tier grows for the first time in a year
New figures released by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner (ACCC) have revealed that services on NBN Co’s slowest wholesale speed tier — which offers downloads of up to 12 megabits per second and 1Mbps uploads — have increased for the first time since mid-2018.
Source: Computerworld
Thu, 14th Nov 2019
Google labels ACCC's location data privacy claims as 'out of context'
The Australia Federal Court has directed the ACCC to clarify the issues it wants to have settled in court.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 13th Nov 2019
NBN Co resists calling in reinforcements for FTTC build
NBN Co is standing firm on its resourcing of the fibre-to-the-curb (FTTC) build, despite needing to double the number of serviceable premises and active connections in the next nine months to meet its FY20 target.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 12th Nov 2019
NBN Co hits 10.2M premises ready to connect
NBN Co declared an additional 335,000 premises ready to connect in the September quarter, bringing the total to 10.2 million.
Source: ARN