Broadband News
Wed, 07th Apr 2010
NBN: Happy birthday to you
A year ago today, I sat in the lounge room eating a bowl of Nutri-grain while watching Kevin Rudd and Stephen Conroy announce their quite astounding plan to throw out their original NBN tender, and drive the project on top-down basis by building their own network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Adam tests exposure to Ericsson DSLAM bug
Adam Internet has confirmed it is working with Ericsson to mitigate the risk of being hit by a software bug affecting some of the vendor's DSLAMs.
Source: iTnews Australia
Pirate Party and Philip Nitschke teach seniors to hack filter
Pro-euthanasia group Exit International is holding national hacking crash-courses in how to bypass the Federal Government's planned ISP-level Internet content filter with help from the Australian Pirate Party.
Source: Computerworld
Answers on NBN sought one year on
Dollar signs and question marks continue to cast shadows over the government's plan to build its $43 billion high-speed national broadband network a year after Kevin Rudd launched the project.
Source: The Australian
Tue, 06th Apr 2010
NBN Co inks deal with Telstra
NBN Co has revealed that its entire telecommunications services are provided by the very company which, depending on negotiations, could turn out to be its biggest competitor.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Renewed calls for NBN's FTTH to carry RF channel for TV
NZ company Optical Network Engineering, in a submission to the Senate NBN enquiry, says the 100Mbps of the NBN's FTTH network won't be enough to satisfy future demand for 3D and HD video, and an RF channel should be added to the fibre.
Source: iTWire
Internode finds bug in Ericsson DSLAMs
ISP Internode has discovered a software flaw that has crippled some of the Ericsson-branded Ethernet controller nodes (ECNs) on its network - a flaw that may lie dormant within the networks of other service providers.
Source: iTnews Australia
Senate committee to investigate NBN
The Senate national broadband network committee may hold off on delivering its final report until the $25 million NBN implementation study is tabled.
Source: Australian IT
ACCC facing challenges in regulating NBN Co
The ACCC has, for the first time, spelt out some of the challenges it faces in regulating NBN Co as a future monopoly provider of telecommunications services.
Source: iTWire
'Hacking masterclass' offered to bypass filter
Euthanasia groups will hold computer seminars around Australia to teach people how they can defy the Federal Government's proposed internet filter to obtain suicide information.
Source: ZDNet Australia
No proof ISP filtering works: Abbott
Opposition leader Tony Abbott says there is insufficient evidence ISP filtering is effective enough to warrant his full support.
Source: Australian IT
Liberals seek a policy alternative to the national broadband network
Tony Smith likes nothing more than to sit in his fully restored 1971 Holden HQ Monaro, turn on its original radio and enjoy the leafy suburban surrounds of his home in Chirnside Park, in outer-suburban Melbourne.
Source: Australian IT
Mon, 05th Apr 2010
Concerns as Telstra, NBN face split
Telecommunications companies will think twice about investing in their networks if they think the federal government's national broadband company will be given an unfair advantage, says a business group.
Source: SMH
Spectrum sale looms as test for the regulator
Chris Chapman is facing arguably the biggest test of his tenure as chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, as the regulator readies itself for a once-in-a-generation digital-dividend spectrum auction.
Source: The Australian
Thu, 01st Apr 2010
Internet's not special, says communications minister
Web experts recoiled today at communications minister Stephen Conroy's assertion that the internet is not "special" and should be censored like books, films and newspapers.
Source: SMH
Adam tests WiMAX firmware for speed drive
ISP Adam Internet will deploy a firmware upgrade to its WiMAX network in Adelaide next quarter that will push the network's capability beyond the current 15 Mbps limit.
Source: iTnews Australia
Internode to formally offer consumers IPv6 this year
Internode will offer production IPv6 services to consumers by the end of 2010 as it continues to gain experience through a trial of the next generation Internet Protocol.
Source: Computerworld
iiNet's Malone on Netspace and beyond
The hot topic on the internet industry this week is the $40m acquisition of Netspace by iiNet. On today's Twisted Wire Michael Malone, CEO of iiNet, says we can expect more acquisitions down the track, but not in the very near future.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Wed, 31st Mar 2010
Should the NBN worry about wireless?
Outspoken chief executive of Australian internet service provider Exetel, John Linton, has been clear that he considers that wireless kills the NBN Co's fibre-to-the-home proposition. But could mobile broadband really rain on the NBN's parade and turn it into a failed field of dreams?
Source: ZDNet Australia
Libs: Conroy on NBN-hater witch hunt
Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy has hit back at Liberal communications spokesperson Tony Smith who yesterday claimed Conroy would "burn at the stake" anyone who doubted the National Broadband Network (NBN).
Source: ZDNet Australia
Analysts: ISPs will suffer in a saturated ADSL market
ISPs will find it harder to stay competitive in an ADSL market close to saturation point, industry analysts claim.
Source: ARN
Analysis: In mobile tech war, LTE haunts WiMax again
Just as WiMax mobile broadband technology starts to recover from losing the big battle for industry dominance to Long Term Evolution (LTE), a new version of LTE is attacking it in its newly secured niche.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tue, 30th Mar 2010
Government goes to war with Google over net censorship
The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, has launched a stinging attack on Google and its credibility in response to the search giant's campaign against the government's internet filtering policy.
Source: SMH
ABS: Over 500,000 net users get 24Mbps
More than 60 per cent of all Internet connections are now at or above 1.5Mbps according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Source: Computerworld
Conroy's blackspots: 400km done, 5600 to go
Wholesale network operator Nextgen has rolled out 400 kilometres of backhaul under the Federal Government's regional blackspots program, according to managing director, Phil Sykes.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Public response to filter: Video
It's been just over three months since the Federal Government decided it would go ahead with its plans for internet service providers to block access to "refused classification" material on the web. ZDNet.com.au asked the public what it thought of the plan.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Exetel seeks out-of-court Telstra settlement
The Federal Court has stood over a deceptive conduct claim filed against Telstra by ISP Exetel to allow both parties to pursue an agreement out of court.
Source: iTnews Australia
Coalition would halt NBN construction
The Coalition will take a fully-costed alternative broadband plan for Australia to the next election that is cheaper and makes greater use of mobile technologies. And it says it will not complete the construction of the Rudd Government's $43 billion National Broadband Network.
Source: iTWire
Mon, 29th Mar 2010
Conroy silent on US internet filter knock
The Federal Government has remained quiet on alleged concerns raised by the US State Department on a proposal to install Internet content filters in Australia. Under the national mandatory filtering plan, ISPs would be required to install filtering technology to prohibit access to websites on a government-held blacklist.
Source: Computerworld
Conroy resolute: No opt-out for filter
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has rejected suggestions from ALP colleague Senator Kate Lundy that the Government offer an 'opt-out' for its plan for a mandatory ISP-level filter.
Source: iTnews Australia