Broadband News

Wed, 15th Jan 2025

Telstra to splash $700m on AI joint venture

The move may lead to further job losses for Telstra, which last year announced plans to cut up to 2800 workers.

Source: SMH

ACCC puts Uniti Group under notice for conduct issues

The ACCC has stepped in to issue binding rules of conduct for the superfast broadband access service (SBAS) supplied by Uniti Group and its related corporate entities.

Source: ARN

Tue, 14th Jan 2025

NBN receives $3B Govt boost

The Australian Government has invested a further $3 billion into NBN Co to upgrade the remaining fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network across Australia.

Source: ARN

Mon, 13th Jan 2025

Gov to give NBN Co up to $3bn to complete FTTN overbuild

NBN Co will receive up to $3 billion from the federal government and chip in $800 million itself to provide the last 622,000 premises stuck on fibre-to-the-node with an upgrade path.

Source: iTnews Australia

Optus quietly delays mobile-to-satellite service launch

Optus has quietly paused the launch of its satellite-to-mobile service launch following its partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink.

Source: iTnews Australia

Albanese splashes $3 billion on pre-election NBN upgrades

Australia ranks a lowly 82nd globally for broadband download speeds, behind Oman and Czechia, and just above Uzbekistan.

Source: SMH

PM promises $3b to 'finish' NBN and speed up internet

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promises a $3 billion injection to "finish" the National Broadband Network and speed up internet services, as Labor and the Coalition swing into election campaign mode.

Source: ABC News

Thu, 09th Jan 2025

Apple clarifies Siri privacy stance after US$95 million class action settlement

Apple clarified that it has never sold the data collected by its Siri voice assistant or used it to create marketing profiles, just days after settling a case in which it faced such accusations.

Source: iTnews Australia

Telstra works with SpaceX’s Starlink on satellite-to-mobile technology

Telstra has collaborated with SpaceX’s Starlink to bring satellite-to-mobile (direct-to-handset) text messaging to its customers, without the need for a specific compatible smartphone.

Source: ARN

Telstra to trial satellite-to-mobile services with Starlink

Telstra has signed an agreement with SpaceX to use Starlink to deliver satellite-to-mobile services, starting with SMS this year.

Source: iTnews Australia

Wed, 08th Jan 2025

Meta wants regular people to curb falsehoods on Facebook. Here's how it will work

Social media giant Meta has announced an Elon Musk-inspired solution to replace its independent fact-checking model on its platforms. Community Notes has been praised by its creator, but how effective is at curbing misinformation?

Source: ABC News

In one fell swoop, Meta enters its ‘post-truth’ era

With Wednesday’s decision, Mark Zuckerberg has cemented Silicon Valley’s radical facelift as it cosies up to President-elect Donald Trump.

Source: SMH

Calls to triple-0 included teen who lost internet, man who wanted stray cat arrested

Police say they also received a call from a university student who wanted their professor's contact details to request a deadline extension and a man who wanted a stray cat on his street to be arrested.

Source: ABC News

Tue, 07th Jan 2025

Meta gets rid of fact checkers

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has said the company will no longer use fact checkers.

Source: SMH

NBN Co installs nesting platforms above fixed wireless towers

NBN Co is installing specific platform structures on top of fixed wireless towers for birds to nest to prevent disturbance from technical maintenance.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 06th Jan 2025

NBN Co now harnessing power from wind farm

NBN Co reports that it has begun harnessing power from a wind farm as it ‘makes progress in driving down carbon emissions’.

Source: iTWire

ISP Flip shifts to Swoop infrastructure

Internet service provider Flip has migrated its customer base onto Swoop Telecommunications' network under a three-year, $30 million deal.

Source: iTnews Australia

Fri, 03rd Jan 2025

What are subsea cables, and what happens when one gets cut?

The text message you just sent and the show you streamed last night were almost certainly enabled by a subsea cable. So why are they so vulnerable to attack?

Source: SMH

Sun, 22nd Dec 2024

NBN ownership is a national security issue, union says

The NBN needs to remain “under the control of the elected government” as a national security measure, according to the Communication Workers Union.

Source: iTnews Australia

Tue, 10th Dec 2024

Telstra fined $3m over Triple Zero outage

Telstra has been fined $3 million for a Triple Zero outage earlier this year that led to 127 calls not being transferred to emergency services.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 09th Dec 2024

Optus sells Uecomm to Superloop for $17.5m

Optus is to sell its subsidiary Uecomm to Superloop for $17.5 million following a “strategic review”.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sun, 08th Dec 2024

Superloop acquires Uecomm assets for $17.5M

Superloop has acquired Optus subsidiary Uecomm for $17.5 million, gaining over 2,000 kilometres of high-capacity fibre assets.

Source: ARN

Mon, 02nd Dec 2024

Telstra swallows prepaid mobile provider Boost for $100m

Telstra is to acquire mobile virtual network operator Boost Mobile, expanding its existing operational management of the company.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sun, 01st Dec 2024

Telstra to acquire Boost as part of ‘multi-brand strategy’

Telstra is set to acquire mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Boost Mobile, with the telco claiming it will consolidate the business under its own roof.

Source: ARN

Tue, 26th Nov 2024

Aussie Broadband is building a new cloud for its internal use

Aussie Broadband is six months into building a cloud platform for its own internal use that will replace existing compute and containerisation platforms and help it shrink its data centre footprint.

Source: iTnews Australia

Google, Meta urge Australia to delay social media ban bill

Google and Meta Platforms urged the Australian government to delay a bill that will ban most forms of social media for children under 16, saying more time was needed to assess its potential impact.

Source: iTnews Australia

Mon, 25th Nov 2024

Vocus and Google connect the Indo-Pacific region via Australia

Google has chosen Vocus to build a 42,500 kilometre fibre optic cable in the Indo-Pacific region, extending a preexisting South Pacific link with more connections to Australia as well as Christmas Island and Singapore.

Source: ARN

Australia Connect to deliver new subsea cables

A consortium of Google Cloud, NEXTDC, SUBCO, Vocus, state and local governments are coming together under the banner of ‘Australia Connect’ to build two new subsea cables between mainland capital cities and Christmas Island.

Source: iTnews Australia

Sunshine Coast selected for new subsea cable landing point

Sunshine Coast, NEXTDC and Google will partner on developing a new landing point in Australia for the Tabua trans-Pacific subsea cable that will connect the United States and Australia to Fiji.

Source: iTWire

Sun, 24th Nov 2024

Commuters have limited phone reception when on Sydney trains. Here's what the telcos had to say

Imagine no Instagram scrolling, no watching Netflix, no checking emails and no jumping on a work video call. Many commuters are wondering why their phone reception is so poor when on trains.

Source: ABC News