Broadband News
Thu, 13th May 2010
Neighborhood Cable to upgrade HFC network to 100 Mbps
Neighbourhood Cable will upgrade its hybrid fibre and coaxial (HFC) network in regional Victoria to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, pushing speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Source: iTnews Australia
AARNet: Punters need to be sold on NBN
The Federal Government has some way to go to convince the general public of the National Broadband Network's worth, according to the head of the Australian Academic and Research Network, (AARNet).
Source: Computerworld
Optus gets mobile data boost as fixed broadband stalls
Optus has capitalised on Australian's appetite for mobile data, boosting its annual revenues and profit while its fixed-line broadband revenue stalls.
Source: iTnews Australia
Conroy, NBN Co and Implementation Study authors called back to Senate hearing
The Senate select committee for the national broadband network (NBN) will call back key stakeholders in the network for another two hearings, according to committee chairman, Senator Ian McDonald.
Source: Computerworld
Ludlam: filter opponents "stand-up now"
Green Senator Scott Ludlam hit out at the Federal Government's Internet content filtering plan, calling for opponents to "stand-up" in Senate yesterday.
Source: Computerworld
The NBN'S 500-page fairy tale
Fairy tales take place in some distant land of dragons, knights and damsels in distress. They are not concerned about complex political situations, incumbent telcos and angry shareholders. By building an NBN there would be a comparatively straightforward process and they'd all live happily ever after.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 12th May 2010
Former AFP cop says filter will 'fail'
A former director of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre (AHTCC) Alistair McGibbon last night said the Federal Government's proposed mandatory internet service provider level filter would "fail".
Source: ZDNet Australia
ACCC gets additional $24m to manage NBN issues
Impending telecommunications structural reform might be aimed at reducing regulatory complexity, but that hasn't stopped the competition watchdog being given an additional $24 million Budget boost to manage the new issues and new complexities that will arrive with the National Broadband Network.
Source: iTWire
Canberra leading Australian net usage
The Australian Capital Territory continues to lead the nation as the home for the biggest users of the internet, according to a release yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telco Bill unlikely to get debated this week
The Federal Government's controversial legislation to reform the telecommunications sector is unlikely to get debated in the Senate this week, after Senate whips from each party last night met and decided they needed to debate Bills that hadn't been passed from yesterday.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Operators can make profit from mobile broadband - says Nokia Siemens
Prophesies of doom and gloom for mobile operators are legion as they struggle to meet surging demands for mobile data and price-eroding fierce competition, but Nokia Siemens Networks claims that profitability is within operators' grasp.
Source: iTWire
Net Filter companies losing ISP business
Sales of web content filters to the telecommunications industry have frozen as reluctant Internet Service Providers (ISPs) wait for possible subsidy under the Federal Government's national Internet content filter plan.
Source: Computerworld
Budget 2010: Cost of managing NBN Co stacks up
Four Federal Government agencies have all received funding boosts in the 2010 Budget specifically for their role in managing or regulating the development of the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co).
Source: iTnews Australia
Budget 2010-2011: Government pumps cash into NBN and ISP filtering
The Government has kicked up its commitment to the National Broadband Network (NBN), promising $300 million in funds from infrastructure bonds and $16m in advertising and marketing to promote fast Internet as part of the new Federal Budget.
Source: ARN
Tue, 11th May 2010
Telstra loses bid to double wholesale cost
The Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) yesterday rejected Telstra's push to double the wholesale price for access to its Unconditioned Local Loop Service (ULLS) in metro areas.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internode, Exetel, Dodo and ispOne join Telstra's FTTH trial in Point Cook
Four service providers - Internode, Dodo, ispONE and Exetel - have signed up to offer broadband services over the FTTP network that Telstra has rolled out to 1500 homes in the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook.
Source: iTWire
Conroy appointed to UN broadband taskforce
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been appointed to a UN taskforce aimed at speeding the roll-out of broadband networks around the world.
Source: Australian IT
Telstra Bill will finally make it to the Senate tomorrow
The Federal Government will introduce a Bill that aims to structurally separate Telstra to the Senate on Wednesday.
Source: Computerworld
Competition Tribunal knocks back Telstra's wholesale line pricing
The Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) has once again rejected Telstra's bid for a $30 monthly price for the unbundled local loop service (ULLS) that underpins a large percentage of Australian broadband services and which is presently charged at about half this figure.
Source: iTWire
All eyes on Australia as Conroy pushes net filter
Governments and organisations around the world are intently watching Australia as the Federal Government continues to peddle the proposed ISP-level Internet filter, former GetUp executive director and AccessNow founder, Brett Solomon, has revealed.
Source: Computerworld
NBN is about ubiquity, not just uptake and speeds
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is not just about consumer take up of faster Internet speeds. It’s about ubiquity, according to one of the expert panel members that evaluated the now abandoned fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) tender for the network.
Source: Computerworld
NBN on council collision course
The NBN plan appears set to put the federal government on course for a new war with local councils.
Source: Australian IT
NBN has hidden price trap
Wholesale prices in the government's $25 million implementation study may have little effect on prices for end users.
Source: Australian IT
Mon, 10th May 2010
Interview: Inside a censored China
Beijing-based academic Kaiser Kuo will bravely step into a local political storm in a series of televised debates this week as one of the few voices arguing that some forms of internet censorship can be justified.
Source: iTnews Australia
TransACT eyes NSW for fibre growth
TransACT is eyeing the expansion of its FTTP network into greenfields sites around the NSW/ACT border as it continues to grow fibre connections on the network.
Source: iTnews Australia
Australian broadband standards bumped up
The Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) standards have changed to increase the minimum Internet speed requirements for registered ISPs.
Source: ARN
Exetel's Linton thanks "thug" Conroy for free plug
The controversial chief of ISP Exetel has thanked Stephen Conroy for the "free plugs" for Exetel's cheap NBN plans while appearing to quietly change the final shape of those plans.
Source: APC Magazine
Conroy reassures Telstra shareholders
Telstra's management team is driving a hard bargain over the Rudd government's National Broadband Network (NBN), according to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
Source: ZDNet Australia
US and Conroy 'agree to disagree' on filter
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has said that he and the United States Government were "going to agree to disagree" on the issue of a mandatory internet service provider level internet filter.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra holding out on national broadband network
Telstra's management team is driving a hard bargain over the Rudd government's national broadband network, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says.
Source: The Australian