Broadband News
Wed, 17th Jul 2019
Home Affairs could tap telcos for MAC and IP addresses, port numbers
The Department of Home Affairs has raised the prospect of forcing Australian telcos to capture an expanded range of user data including MAC addresses, IP addresses and port numbers under mandatory data retention laws.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 16th Jul 2019
Home Affairs floats making telcos retain MAC addresses and port numbers
Soon it might just be easier for Australia's telcos to keep a copy of every TCP or UDP header for the cops to poke through.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus fears storage cost blowout to retain 5G metadata
Optus is concerned its data storage costs could blow out if Australia’s data retention regime is not “reviewed and calibrated” to deal with the arrival of 5G networks.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus gained exemption to store metadata unencrypted
Optus has confessed it received an exemption to keep its legacy systems free from encryption when complying with Australia's data retention scheme.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Vodafone to refund customers over direct carrier billing charges
Vodafone has become the latest telco to offer refunds for their so-called ‘direct carrier billing’ service after customers were unknowingly charged for third-party apps and games.
Source: ARN
Fri, 12th Jul 2019
Retailers demand Telstra pay for massive payments outage
Key leaders in Australia’s retail industry say Telstra should be on the hook for compensation for lost sales resulting from Thursday’s national outage that crippled payment systems for around half the trading day after all major banks, merchant EFTPOS terminals and ATMs were knocked offline.
Source: iTnews Australia
myGov system goes down; Telstra blames 'traffic' for yesterday's outage
The myGov system is experiencing technical problems, denying people online access to the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink. Meanwhile, Telstra has blamed "unusually large traffic" in NSW for yesterday's payments outage.
Source: ABC News
Telstra restores services after outage, blames unusual traffic volumes in NSW
Telstra says it completed the full restoration of services early this morning after a major outage that affected its enterprise customers.
Source: Computerworld
Thu, 11th Jul 2019
Govt now says 'premature' to cut Telstra from future NBN sale
Telstra may still have a chance at buying part or all of the National Broadband Network in an eventual sale after the new Communications Minister appeared to back away from earlier comments that the telco would be excluded.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra outage hits electronic payments, ATMs and EFTPOS
Woolworths has been left processing payments manually amid a Telstra network outage, with other retailers and major banks reporting problems with EFTPOS, ATMs and other electronic payments.
Source: ABC News
Aussie TV viewers still footing the bill for mobile interference
Frank found himself $390 out of pocket after his TV antenna needed a filter to deal with 4G interference, and some installers say the problem is growing.
Source: SMH
Vocus touts 60Tbps capacity on Australia Singapore Cable
Vocus says that end to end capacity on the Australian Singapore Cable (ASC) is now 60 terabits per second (Tbps), up from its September 2018 debut of 40Tbps.
Source: Computerworld
NBN Co to fix aerial cable run between two trees in Sydney
NBN Co is set to conduct “rectification works” on a cable it inherited from Telstra that was found strung up between two trees in Sydney’s south.
Source: iTnews Australia
'We should have gone back': Telstra apologises for stringing NBN cable between two trees
A social-media clip showing cabling suspended across two trees on a suburban Sydney street goes viral on social media — but the NBN says the gaffe was inherited from Telstra, and has likely been that way since 2015.
Source: ABC News
Judge rejects Foxtel push to avoid hearing for proxy blocking case
A suggestion by Foxtel that its latest application for an anti-piracy injunction be heard ‘on the papers’ has been rejected by a Federal Court judge. Instead a hearing of the application, which if granted will block access to a number of web proxy services, has been scheduled for late August.
Source: Computerworld
Wed, 10th Jul 2019
NBN Co's most complained-about access tech is FTTC
NBN Co might claim fibre-to-the-curb users are among its biggest advocates, but users connected with that access technology also lodge more complaints than others.
Source: iTnews Australia
400 buildings hooked up to Adelaide’s 10-gig network
By the end of this month 400 buildings will be connected to an Adelaide fibre network offering symmetrical speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second. By the end of the year, that number is expected to reach 700.
Source: Computerworld
Non-NBN broadband, NBN voice services fare poorly in ACMA complaints report
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released its first snapshot of telecommunications complaints data as part of a number of ACMA measures to tackle rising dissatisfaction with broadband and phone services.
Source: Computerworld
Telcos taking six days to resolve complaints
Australian telecommunication service providers are taking an average of six days to resolve customer complaints, according to the media watchdog.
Source: ARN
Dodo stung for streaming promises on low-quota NBN plans
Internet provider Dodo will refund 16,000 customers “up to $360,000” after marketing low-speed and low-quota NBN plans as being “perfect for streaming”.
Source: iTnews Australia
'9,500 jobs to save one': How Telstra is slashing its workforce to meet NBN challenge
A year after Telstra announced it was shedding 8,000 jobs, former workers are still coming to terms with the restructure. As the telco modernises and prepares for big changes, some analysts believe the company is facing a make or break moment.
Source: ABC News
Tue, 09th Jul 2019
4G speeds topping 5G in Australia: Opensignal
America can boast of 5G being 2.7 times quicker than 4G, but in Australia, 4G leads the way.
Source: ZDNet Australia
MacTel presses NBN Co to boost reach of 100Mbps+ business services
Macquarie Telecom will use NBN Co’s wholesale price review to press the case for more business-oriented services capable of speeds over 100Mbps in outer metro and regional areas.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co 'should have supplied modems for all connections'
The NBN Co miscalculated when it decided not to supply a modem to each resident on fibre-to-the-node and fibre-to-the-building connections, the head of a small retail service provider says, adding that this could have helped the company diagnose connection issues remotely.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 08th Jul 2019
Telstra finds 5G energy levels sitting well under safety limits
Australian telco says electromagnetic energy used in 5G are similar to 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Govt maintains NBN Co's $19.5bn loan 'will be' refinanced
The government maintains it has “commercial advice” that NBN Co will be able to refinance its $19.5 billion loan, though the start date for refinancing is being kept out of public view for now.
Source: iTnews Australia
How 'the Netflix effect' killed the NBN's dream
Fixed wireless internet promised so much, like the ability for high-tech businesses to base themselves almost anywhere in Australia. But then along came Netflix and everything changed.
Source: ABC News
Telco unions, Telstra brawl over redundancy benefits
Three Unions representing telco workers have reached a stalemate with Telstra over redundancy benefits for workers moved on by the carrier.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 05th Jul 2019
Aussie telco metadata requests again on the rise
Law enforcement and other agencies are making more requests to access the telco metadata of Australians captured under mandatory data retention laws.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra and union at loggerheads over redundancy benefits
Talks between union bosses and Telstra have hit a stalemate over the telco’s proposed revival of a contentious redundancy offer for laid-off workers.
Source: ARN