Broadband News
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
Downloads soar as Australians ‘binge’ on streaming, says ACCC
Australians are spending less time talking on their mobile phones and downloading substantially more data than they were even a year ago, according to Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 20th Jan 2020
Australia broadband cost down, but country ranks 113th out of 206 nations
A British website that regularly surveys broadband packages globally has ranked Australia 113th out of 206 countries that it looked at between 28 November 2019 and 8 January this year.
Source: iTWire
End-to-end encryption means Huawei bans are about availability, not interception
If irony didn't die in the last week, it is more than likely sitting in a British hospital with its feet up, as it recovers from a severe coronary event. But before we get into the medical issues of literary techniques, a little history lesson.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sun, 19th Jan 2020
The biggest downloading suburb in 2019? Telstra says Coomera
In a year where Fortnite dominated the data channels, Coomera on the Gold Coast was king of the downloads.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 17th Jan 2020
Vodafone offers free mobile broadband for bushfire victims - Customer or not
Vodafone offers free Wifi to anyone - customer or not - who has lost their home in the bushfires.
Source: WhistleOut
Thu, 16th Jan 2020
NBN Co reveals active Sky Muster users within 25km of city centres
NBN Co has revealed for the first time the number of active satellite users within a 25 kilometre radius of most major Australian capital cities.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 14th Jan 2020
Circles.Life is at it again: Get 20GB bonus data on all plans
One of Australia's newest telcos, Circles.Life has come out with a new option for budget phone plans: an extra 20GB on its plans.
Source: WhistleOut
NZ discounts 5G spectrum pricing as rights terms come up short
The New Zealand government has set the reserve pricing for management rights in the 3.5 GHz radio-frequency spectrum band for 5G, with a minimum of NZ$250,000 (A$240,017) per 10 MHz lot in the March auction.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co may need to prove it isn't cross-subsidising enterprise play
NBN Co is facing calls to prove it is not using income from its regulated activities - supplying residential broadband - to subsidise its entry into the enterprise and government market.
Source: iTnews Australia
Mon, 13th Jan 2020
ACMA orders ISPs to block nine more gambling sites
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) on Monday ordered the nation's internet service providers (ISPs) to block an additional nine offshore gambling websites it deems as illegal.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sat, 11th Jan 2020
No prepaid, no data sharing, and everything else we learnt during our first Optus 5G speed tests
Our first real world tests of Optus' next generation mobile network.
Source: WhistleOut
Fri, 10th Jan 2020
Telstra hit 100,000 5G devices using its network
Telstra has provided an update on its 5G rollout at CES 2020, saying it now has 100,000 5G devices connected to its network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Thu, 09th Jan 2020
NBN Co upgrades small portion of slow FTTN services to full fibre
NBN Co has upgraded 3000 premises originally assigned fibre-to-the-node technology to full fibre in order for them to meet the minimum speeds set out in the government’s statement of expectations.
Source: iTnews Australia
UK targets full-fibre broadband with BT regulation changes
Britain's telecoms regulator said it would "supercharge" investment in fibre broadband networks with major proposals to change regulation of the national Openreach network owned by BT.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 08th Jan 2020
Vodafone claims all NBN services are uncommercial
Vodafone Australia claims high-value NBN connections are in no way profitable enough to cross-subsidise “uncommercial” parts of the rollout, and that a proposed broadband tax won’t address the issue.
Source: iTnews Australia
Netgear's Nighthawk M5 is a 5G portable modem that can achieve 4Gbps download speeds
Netgear today announced the Nighthawk M5 portable modem, a 5G mobile hotspot that can achieve download speeds of up to 4Gbps over next generation mobile networks.
Source: WhistleOut
Tue, 07th Jan 2020
TPG complains of 'wireless attack' by 5G on fixed line broadband
Australian telco TPG has launched another defence of its fixed line assets, complaining that fixed broadband is under attack from 5G networks.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Mon, 06th Jan 2020
NBN Co deploys satellite services to bushfire evacuation centres
NBN Co is expecting to have satellite-powered free wifi services available at 17 bushfire evacuation centres in NSW and Victoria later today.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 03rd Jan 2020
NBN Co sends Road Muster truck to NSW south coast
NBN Co has sent one of its Road Muster trucks to a bushfire evacuation centre at Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast, offering free wi-fi and device charging for the community.
Source: iTnews Australia