Broadband News
Tue, 02nd Mar 2010
Retail NBN will cost the govt: Telstra
Telstra has sent a letter to shareholders saying that the Federal Government's National Broadband Network (NBN) draft legislation, which enables NBN Co to sell retail services, will change its financial demands over its separation.
Source: ZDNet Australia
People Telecom to refund misled customers
People Telecom will issue refunds to customers who were signed up by its door-to-door sales and telemarketers as part of a legal undertaking by the Australian Competition and Consumer and Commission (ACCC).
Source: Computerworld
Telstra concerned over NBN powers
Telstra said today it was "very concerned" by draft legislation released by the government last week that could give Canberra the power to allow the planned $43 billion national broadband network to become a retailer in some circumstances.
Source: The Australian
Mon, 01st Mar 2010
ACMA takes gotalk to court over 40,000 illegal calls
Telecommunications player, gotalk, is in hot water for allegedly breaching the Do Not Call Register with reckless abandon.
Source: ARN
Australians report $70m fraud loss in 2009
Australians in 2009 were most prone to scams that asked for an up-front payment to secure larger, fictitious returns, an ACCC survey has found.
Source: iTnews Australia
Stage 3 NBN Tasmania announced
The Federal Government has announced the third stage of funding for NBN Tasmania, which will see a further $100 million in funding used to roll out high speed broadband to 90,000 premises in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie.
Source: Computerworld
Greens: Filter issue is too hot for election year
The Australian Greens were looking for a way to "knock on the head" internet filtering legislation to be introduced to Parliament as early as this month, according to Western Australian Senator Scott Ludlam.
Source: iTnews Australia
Tassie NBN to hit Hobart
The Federal Government today announced locations for stage three of the National Broadband Network (NBN) roll-out in Tasmania, including the state's capital.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Sports lose cash to net piracy
Cricket Australia says it has lost millions of dollars in overseas media rights payments due to the impact of internet piracy.
Source: Australian IT
PM considers Internet Ombudsman
The Federal Government will consider introducing an Internet Ombudsman to remove inappropriate material online.
Source: Computerworld
Fri, 26th Feb 2010
Internet filtering may be exploited by hackers
The Federal Government's proposed ISP-level filtering policy may be exploited by hackers targeting legitimate websites, according to Arcsight CEO, Tom Reilly.
Source: ARN
Conroy lashes out at Telstra bill delay
Communications minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has hit out at the Opposition's successful attempt to block debate on the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment Bill (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) 2009 in the Senate.
Source: Computerworld
Telcos to face tougher competition from VoIP
In its half year results Telstra made much of the sudden decline in PSTN revenues. VoIP's contribution that to decline is still tiny but the latest initiative from wholesale VoIP service provider, Symbio Networks, could make VoIP significantly more competitive.
Source: iTWire
Legal expert: AFACT appeal might do some good
Outdated copyright policies should be refreshed and clarified, since the iiNet vs Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT ) debacle, according to a legal expert.
Source: ARN
K. Rudd: Internet filter not perfect, but we're ploughing ahead
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has conceded the proposed mandatory Internet filtering scheme is not perfect but is adamant in its role to reduce inappropriate content in cyberspace.
Source: ARN
Dear Stephen, your site is broken
I hope you are well and not finding the communications portfolio too much of a headache. I know you had a bit of a tough time with the Opposition in the Senate yesterday, but try not to let it get you down - they're just jealous because they're not in charge any more.
Source: APC Magazine
Pirate Party attacks Lundy's filter option
The fledgling Pirate Party has attacked the opt-out amendment being proposed by Labor Senator Kate Lundy to the government's filtering legislation as "censorship lite", saying it was a "hollow response" to the community's concerns about the project.
Source: ZDNet Australia
The national broadband network in political mire
The brilliance of Stephen Conroy's national broadband network proposal unveiled in April was its simplicity in being an open-access wholesale network that would structurally separate Telstra and encourage competition.
Source: The Australian
Outlook negative for Telstra in agency recast
Uncertainty about the fate of the government's plans for the broadband network and the split of Telstra has prompted a financial agency to warn that the company's credit rating could be on the slide.
Source: The Age
Thu, 25th Feb 2010
Revealed: Copyright '101' challenge to iiNet victory
The film industry will challenge close to the entirety of Justice Cowdroy's judgement on its case against ISP iiNet, according to appeal documents lodged with the Federal Court.
Source: iTnews Australia
3 mobile does the Telstra-to-Voda switcheroo
Customers of 3 Mobile in metro areas have been asked to reset their handsets today after the telco switched its fallback network from Telstra 2G to Vodafone 2G.
Source: iTnews Australia
Senate rebels on Telstra Bill
What appeared to be an attempt by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to debate the Government's controversial legislation to reform the telecommunications sector was shot down in flames in the Federal Senate today.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Conroy's website removes references to filter
The minister in charge of the Government's web censorship plan has been caught out censoring his own website.
Source: News Limited
Telcos preview ACCC pricing submissions
Submissions close this week on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Review of Access Pricing, where telcos say how they think pricing for Telstra's customer access network should look.
Source: ZDNet Australia
ISPs 'deliver half of quoted download speeds': claim
A broadband comparison site has claimed that ISPs are on average delivering less than half the claimed nominal download speed.
Source: iTWire
Appeal won't stop illegal downloads: iiNet
iiNet this afternoon rejected a renewed legal challenge by a coalition of film and TV studios as "disappointing and frustrating", adding it would not stop piracy.
Source: APC Magazine
NBN Co could retail services
The Federal Government has left the door open for the National Broadband Network Company to supply services directly to users such as government, despite former assurances that the company would only provide wholesale services.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN Co wants to take over Australian Broadband Guarantee
NBN Co is proposing that, as an interim measure to improve broadband for very remote areas of Australia, it would become the sole provider of wholesale satellite capacity that it would then on-sell to retail service providers.
Source: iTWire
AFACT payment to iiNet up in the air
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has appealed the costs awarded to iiNet in its failed copyright case against the ISP but did not elaborate on the reasons in the Federal Court.
Source: ARN
New piracy trial: AFACT to appeal iiNet verdict
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) today said it would appeal the Federal Court's judgement against the group in its internet piracy case against iiNet.
Source: APC Magazine