Broadband News
Mon, 14th Jun 2010
"It's not about your web history": Attorney General
The Attorney General, Robert McLelland, has denied the government's controversial ISP logging policy will extend to users' web history.
Source: APC Magazine
Fewer Australians subscribing to broadband
Australia is one of only two developed countries where the take-up of broadband internet connections declined last year, new figures show.
Source: SMH
Small telcos up in arms over Foxtel-Telstra deal
An attempt by Foxtel to offer extra services over the internet exclusively to Telstra customers has angered smaller internet providers, who argue the plan will harm competition and short-change consumers.
Source: The Age
Battles loom over home wired network standards
The G.hn standard for wired home networks has been approved by the Telecommunication Union's Telecommunications sector (ITU-T), and is being touted as "the one global standard" but it faces competition from others.
Source: iTWire
Private equity, TPG set sights on AAPT
AAPT could be in new hands as early as August if its owner, Telecom New Zealand, accepts one of several approaches for the business.
Source: Australian IT
Sat, 12th Jun 2010
iiNet's IPTV is three times the cost of Telstra's
In an industry where Telstra is almost always the most expensive, this certainly is a surprise.
Source: APC Magazine
Facebook adviser critical of filter
A policy adviser to Facebook says he doubts the Australian government's proposed mandatory internet filter will work.
Source: Australian IT
iiNet knew of internet surveillance proposal in 2009
iiNet was briefed in 2009 about a government proposal to force ISPs to store copies of customers' emails, phone calls and web browsing histories, but was bound to secrecy.
Source: APC Magazine
Fri, 11th Jun 2010
Govt wants ISPs to record browsing history
Companies who provide customers with a connection to the internet could soon see themselves having to retain subscriber's private web browsing history for law enforcement to examine when requested, a move which has been widely criticised by industry insiders.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Federal Government in talks to monitor all web browsing
The Federal Government is considering the introduction of a system that would force ISPs to record browsing histories of every Internet user in Australia.
Source: ARN
Government holds the line on ACTA talks
The Federal Government has no plans to extend the shelter of 'safe harbour' to Australia's universities, search engines, web hosts and other network providers to protect them from prosecution over the actions of their subscribers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Optus changes customer charges - guess who gets screwed
In a letter sent to customers, Optus has outlined changes to the way charges for national, mobile and international calls are to be calculated. In a move that rivals their mobile data being charged in 10MB chunks, there’s little benefit in this for customers.
Source: iTWire
Rudd tells Tasmanians why they need NBN
Kevin Rudd tells Tasmanian in this editorial why they should connect to the National Broadband Network, outlining the benefits of his government's plan.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Optus mulls lawsuit over Telstra coverage maps
The legal team at Australia's second largest telco Optus is preparing a lawsuit against incumbent Telstra, alleging that the nation's incumbent telco misrepresented Optus' network coverage in maps posted on a Telstra blog.
Source: iTnews Australia
ISPs reluctant to filter outbound spam
With spam volumes rising relentlessly a new survey claims to have detected an iota of worry among service providers. It seems many of them would love to do something about it but don't know what.
Source: ARN
Thu, 10th Jun 2010
ACL: Anti-filter movement doesn't faze us
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has remained firm on its support for the proposed Internet filter despite numerous protests and campaigns held against the clean-feed.
Source: ARN
Mobile broadband speeds jump in 2009
Mobile broadband networks saw a huge jump in performance in 2009, driven by greater download speeds and reliability, according to analyst firm IDC.
Source: Computerworld
Bad news for Universities if iiNet copyright ruling overturned
The chairman of the Internet Industry Assocation, Peter Coroneos, has told the CIOs of many of Australia's universities that, should the movie studios succeed in their appeal against iiNet over copyright infringement, the universities would have almost no protection against damages claims brought against them for use of their networks for the unauthorised downloading or storage of copyright content.
Source: iTWire
Telstra brags, but Optus catching up
Telstra has taken a swipe at Optus by publishing a set of maps showing the national mobile coverage of both carriers, accompanied by statements putting down its competitor's network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Kevin Rudd's fatal mistake: choosing Conroy over Lundy?
With Labor wallowing at all-time low in the polls, Kevin Rudd must be wondering if the popular Kate Lundy could have done a better job than his blundering communication minister.
Source: APC Magazine
Electronic Frontiers to hold anti-filtering forum
Electronic Frontiers Australia is maintaining the rage in its anti-filtering campaign with plans for a public forum in Melbourne on 25 June.
Source: iTWire
iiNet IPTV available this month
iiNet's pay TV service over broadband is going on sale this month, offering some real competition for Foxtel -- as long as you're not a sports fan.
Source: APC Magazine
Are ISPs under threat?
These days there's very little difference between the services of one internet service provider (ISP) to the next. So where is the growth potential for today's ISP? Rather than thinking about expansion, should they be trying to protect themselves from content and application providers muscling in on their space?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Split always an option, says Telstra exec
Telstra would be better off to allow its business to be split and be barred from future allocations of wireless spectrum, rather than agree to an NBN deal that would reduce the value of the company, chief financial officer John Stanhope told stockbrokers yesterday.
Source: The Australian
Wed, 09th Jun 2010
Telstra 'genuinely committed' to NBN talks
Telstra remains genuinely committed to talks with the Federal Government and NBN Co over the establishment of the National Broadband Network but doesn't know how long the disucsions will take, says Telstra chief financial officer John Stanhope.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Opinion: What makes a good Communications Minister?
How could a Communications Minister promising $43 billion of investment in his industry and the break-up of a monopolistic incumbent become the subject of so much ridicule?
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra cautious on NBN talks
Telstra says its committed to talks on the NBN, but may be better off accepting forced functional separation if a fair deal can't be reached.
Source: Australian IT
EnergyAustralia rules out commercial WiMAX interests
Energyaustralia has ruled out becoming a retail service provider (RSP) under the National Broadband Network (NBN), despite its growing fibre and WiMAX-based infrastructure in NSW.
Source: Computerworld
Telstra to trial combined payphones, Internet kiosks, hotspots from PieNetworks
Telstra is to deploy 50 Hotspot Webphones from Perth-based PieNetworks for a four month trial with a view to a large scale deployment around Australia.
Source: iTWire
Lundy offers opt-in filter option to Rudd
"It has become clear that the community has a preference for opt-in approach," says Senator Lundy. Ding! A Labor politician that finally gets it.
Source: APC Magazine