Broadband News
Tue, 09th Apr 2019
Telstra CEO defends call to block sites showing terrorist attack videos
Andy Penn says he would make the same decision again, and welcomes abhorrent streaming laws.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Fifield claims Labor has adopted Coalition's NBN policy
Communications Minister Mitch Fifield claims the NBN policy announced by the Australian Labor Party on Tuesday is an admission that "the NBN technology debate of the last six years was just about politics".
Source: iTWire
Southern Cross inks deal with Alcatel Submarine Networks for Next project
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) has signed a contract to supply the Southern Cross Next submarine cable, based on an open cable architecture, leading to the manufacturing and construction phase of the project.
Source: ARN
NBN Co may fix in-home cabling free for 750,000 homes
NBN Co will foot the bill to upgrade in-home wiring at 750,000 premises in the fibre-to-the-node footprint under a plan floated by the federal opposition today.
Source: iTnews Australia
Another NBN review floated as Labor plan to 'make best of what we have'
A Shorten Labor government would direct NBN to fix in-home cabling for copper connections for free.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Labor’s Rowland pledges digital inclusion drive, action on FTTN performance
Shadow communications minister Michell Rowland has committed a Labor government to waging war on Australia’s digital divide, addressing factors that can degrade fibre to the node performance, and examining the feasibility of co-investment to boost the proportion of fibre in the NBN network.
Source: Computerworld
Labor pledges economic review of NBN if voted in
The Australian Labor Party has said it would review the economics of the NBN, including the implications of the multi-technology mix, on the cash-flow of the NBN Co, the company which is rolling out the network, if it were voted back into office in the forthcoming Federal Election.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 08th Apr 2019
Optus offers to install and repair NBN services itself
NBN Co should train and certify retail service providers to perform installations and repairs to cut down a backlog of work causing delays of up to three months, says Optus CEO Allen Lew.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co's enterprise play catches ACCC's gaze
NBN Co’s shift into the enterprise space is being watched “closely” by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which remains unconvinced the move is not simply “mission creep”.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co 'should' set entry-level broadband prices at ADSL levels
NBN Co “should” be anchoring the price of entry-level broadband services to existing ADSL fees instead of trying to drive up retail costs for consumers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has said.
Source: iTnews Australia
Competition regulator wants entry-level NBN plans at ADSL prices
The chair of the ACCC has expressed alarm about the affordability of the NBN for lower income households, citing the erosion of RSPs willing to offer base-level broadband products.
Source: ARN
How Netflix and bingeing has changed TV production
New technology and a binge-focus makes on-demand streaming a different beast for the writers and producers behind the scenes, as well as for viewers.
Source: SMH
Optus wants new mobile tower rules to steam roll obstinate councils and owners
Current rules are unfit for the deployment of small cells expected with standalone 5G.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus switches on mobile tower in Wharparilla
Singtel Optus has switched on a new mobile tower in Wharparilla as part of the Victorian Government's Mobile Black Spot Project.
Source: iTWire
Fri, 05th Apr 2019
Telstra puts $13M into Central Coast mobile network
Telstra has revealed a $13 million investment to improve mobile network coverage for commuters travelling from Hornsby to Wyong.
Source: ARN
Optus roasts 5G small cell property placement rules
Telecommunications carrier Optus has hit out at a lack of coordination between federal, state and local regulations that govern how mobile phone cells and towers are deployed, branding current arrangements as unfit for the 5G era.
Source: iTnews Australia
VHA-TPG Merger Would Provide Competition Boost: Analyst
The proposed merger between telecommunications company TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) will add mobile capabilities and greater scale to allow TPG to compete with Telstra and Optus more effectively, according to one analyst firm.
Source: iTWire
Amazon plans to launch over 3,000 satellites to offer broadband internet
Amazon.com has confirmed its plan to build a network of over 3,000 satellites through "Project Kuiper" to provide high speed internet
Source: ARN
Thu, 04th Apr 2019
Full fibre the least faulty NBN technology
Fibre-to-the-node and HFC lead the way in complaints for year to July 2018.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co opens hundreds of new complex remediation cases
NBN Co has seen a massive jump in the number of users in need of complex “custom remediation” of their services, up from 52 in April last year to 723 today.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBN Co reveals 183,000 FTTN users don't get over 25Mbps
NBN Co has revealed that 183,000 fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) services aren’t hitting minimum peak speeds of 25Mbps.
Source: iTnews Australia
Atlassian's Farquhar: social media laws will 'cost jobs, damage tech'
Atlassian's billionaire co-founder has joined the chorus of tech and media executives expressing concerns about Australia's new social media laws.
Source: SMH
Optus overcomes blackspot problem to deliver mobile coverage to Pomonal
Australia’s second largest telco Optus has switched on a new tower in Pomonal in regional Victoria as it continues to provide dedicated mobile phone coverage in more areas as part of its mobile blackspot program.
Source: iTWire
Wed, 03rd Apr 2019
Music industry seeks to block stream-ripping services as part of piracy fight
Major record labels are seeking to have Australian telcos block access to a collection of online ‘stream ripping’ services that between them generate hundreds of millions of pageviews every month.
Source: Computerworld
NBN has purchased almost 30,000 kilometres of copper
It is well on the way to hitting the 40,000km milestone of being able to circle the planet at the equator.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Labor won't stand in way of Morrison government's social media laws
The new laws could result in executives at social media platforms facing up to three years in jail, and multi-billion dollar fines for tech companies.
Source: SMH
Tue, 02nd Apr 2019
Budget 2019-20: Government revises regional NBN subsidy
Budget documents reveal the government will revise the cap on its yet-to-be-legislated Regional Broadband Scheme subsidy for the NBN.
Source: Computerworld
Vocus drops 12Mbps NBN plans from iPrimus and Dodo
Vocus has stopped selling 12Mbps NBN services via its retail brands iPrimus and Dodo following a change made by NBN Co to wholesale bandwidth fees.
Source: iTnews Australia
ACMA releases draft spectrum outlook for next five years
The Australian Communications and Media Authority ACMA has released this year’s draft five-year spectrum outlook (FYSO), with an overview of its spectrum management priorities and plans through to 2023.
Source: iTWire
Telstra ditching Thanks scheme for Plus rewards store
Details are scant for the new program, and business customers need not apply.
Source: ZDNet Australia