Broadband News
Wed, 16th Oct 2019
Australian government introduces new telco regulations to fight phone scams
The federal government has announced new telco regulations in a move to prevent fraudsters from hijacking mobile numbers to access personal and financial information, and reduce phone scams.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Govt targets mobile number hijackers with tighter porting rules
Australian telcos will soon be subject to “strict new identification measures” designed to make it harder for bad actors to illegally port - and hijack - mobile numbers.
Source: iTnews Australia
When Telstra shut down the Talking Clock, one man took the time to salvage it
A musician with a penchant for nostalgia and 1990s web design has recreated 'George' the Talking Clock, a service recently unplugged by Telstra after 66 years.
Source: ABC News
Tue, 15th Oct 2019
Foxtel continues New Experience rollout
Broadcaster Foxtel has confirmed the recently released New Foxtel Experience has completed its roll out to iQ4 set top boxes, and updates to the first 50,000 iQ3 set top boxes are now set to commence.
Source: iTWire
Telstra must take part of the blame for NBN creation: Chair
The chair of Telstra, John Mullen, said at the company's annual general meeting that the company must take its share of the blame for not working with the government in the 2000s, as it has resulted in the creation of the NBN as a fibre-to-the-premise based network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra says Australia would have gotten 100Mbps without NBN
Telstra chair John Mullen says Australia would have ended up with 100Mbps services “to the majority of the population” - though not to regional and rural areas without subsidy - even if the NBN had never been dreamt up.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telcos would have delivered fast broadband without NBN project, Telstra chair says
Without the NBN, over the last decade Australia’s big telcos would have delivered 100Mbit broadband services for the majority of the nation, Telstra’s chair has argued.
Source: Computerworld
Union slams Telstra chief's $5M pay packet as 6,000 jobs axed
The union representing Telstra workers has attacked CEO Andy Penn’s “exorbitant” $5-million-dollar paycheque following a year of mass lay-offs.
Source: ARN
Mon, 14th Oct 2019
Telstra 'reassured' as ACCC looks into NBN pricing
Telstra has called a fresh Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry into NBN Co’s wholesale pricing “reassuring”, renewing its hopes of less “costly and complex” wholesale products.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co ‘welcomes’ ACCC inquiry into broadband pricing
NBN Co, the operator of the National Broadband Network, says it welcomes any additional options the ACCC may identify through its Access Pricing Inquiry to promote competition and the interests of customers.
Source: iTWire
NBN Co faces ACCC challenge to set prices
NBN Co is facing a formal challenge to its ability to set its own wholesale prices with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) opening a new inquiry with a particular focus on entry-level pricing.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC mulls regulation of ‘unfair’ basic NBN pricing
The competition watchdog has set its sights on potentially “unfair” NBN prices for consumers on basic speed packages.
Source: ARN
NBN Co to revive HFC self-installation option
NBN Co is set to revive a self-installation option for the internal ‘NBN connection box’ in the HFC footprint, with up to a quarter of premises anticipated to be eligible.
Source: iTnews Australia
Fri, 11th Oct 2019
NBN Co reinvents broadband speed test rankings
NBN Co will launch its own broadband speed ranking system - while “debunking” existing ones - in Amsterdam next week, escalating a long-running beef over third-party rankings that place Australia’s internet speeds alongside those of developing countries.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACCC loses prepaid fee slug case against TPG
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has walked away from the Federal Court with another shiner after its case alleging misleading and deceptive conduct against mobile provider TPG's prepaid fee slugs was dismissed with costs.
Source: iTnews Australia
TPG cleared of allegedly misleading customers over 'prepayment' fee
A legal challenge by the ACCC against TPG Telecom over alleged misleading conduct relating to a $20 ‘prepayment’ fee has been dismissed.
Source: ARN
Internet Australia lambasts Australian Government over Facebook encryption letter
Lobby group Internet Australia has told the Australian Government it is “deeply concerned” over its request to Facebook to halt plans to introduce strong end-to-end encryption in its messaging systems.
Source: iTWire
Thu, 10th Oct 2019
Vocus wants NBN to stick to its original wholesale remit
Vocus CEO Kevin Russell has hit out at the National Broadband Network (NBN) for the tactics it has used to ramp up its number of enterprise customers, calling on the government to hand the national wholesaler a new statement of expectations.
Source: ZDNet Australia
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