Broadband News
Sat, 30th May 2009
Sol, your wake-up call is important: we've no good reason to be smug
It's bad enough when an outsider dares to criticise Australia. But when the outsider is Sol Trujillo, the national hackles rise in outrage. Sol is easy to dislike. Let me count the reasons: his dismal business acumen which drove Telstra to its weakened state; the $30 million he pocketed for four years' work; his treatment of Australian telecommunication consumers; and his political positioning to the right of the Howard government which, remarkably, was too pro-regulation for his taste.
Source: SMH
Fri, 29th May 2009
ACCC approves Voda/Hutch merger
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) today decided not to oppose the Vodafone/Hutchison merger - a move welcomed by the two companies.
Source: ZDNet Australia
NBN to add value to new housing developments
The latest piece of the National Broadband Network (NBN) puzzle is being considered, with the Government looking at how the network will integrate with new property developments.
Source: ARN
Thu, 28th May 2009
Don't overhype WiMAX speeds, analyst warns operators
Wimax operators who overhype their networks' peak speeds risk angering early adopters who feel their expectations haven't been met, an analyst from Pyramid Research said Wednesday.
Source: ARN
Telstra loses Hutch 3G network struggle
Telstra's attempt to appoint a person of its choice as the chairman of the "3GIS" mobile network it operates with rival Hutchison Telecom Australia was yesterday rejected by the Victorian Supreme Court.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Stephen Conroy's joy flight going nowhere
For its biggest project of all, the Rudd Government has brazenly abandoned its commitment to making key infrastructure decisions based on "rigorous cost benefit analysis".
Source: The Australian
Video eats 3G bandwidth for lunch: In-Stat
Isps have disputed analyst claims that 3G broadband will never be a fixed replacement because of a “big, ugly elephant in the room” called video, believing heavy video users are in the minority.
Source: iTnews Australia
Huawei eyes NBN as local sales climb
Networking vendor Huawei racked up some $327 million in contract sales locally last year, fuelled in part by strong growth in wireless.
Source: iTnews Australia
NBNCo can't count on AAPT fibre assets
AAPT remains unconvinced of the benefits of vending some of its fibre assets into the National Broadband Network in return for an equity stake.
Source: iTnews Australia
iiNet earmarks Melbourne freezone additions
Isp iiNet will use the results of a broadband consumer survey to shape upcoming content partnerships and additions to its ‘freezone’ in a bid to attract more customers in Melbourne.
Source: iTnews Australia
Wed, 27th May 2009
Telstra offers 'spare' backhaul to stave off duplication
Telstra has proposed a radical way to introduce price competition on monopoly backhaul transmission routes by having the Government buy 'spare' capacity from them and resell it, effectively subsidising the incumbent's access fees.
Source: iTnews Australia
Review of website blacklist in wind
The Federal Government is considering having a secret blacklist of banned websites reviewed by a panel of eminent Australians or a parliamentary committee to try to get more transparency in the controversial internet censorship regime.
Source: The Age
Analyst: Telstra will exploit Tribunal ruling
Telstra will try to spin its way out of negative publicity to appease shareholders after an appeal to force Optus out of its copper network failed, according to a leading telco analyst.
Source: ARN
Conroy mulls review of ACMA blacklist
Senator Conroy has revealed the Government is considering appointing a panel to conduct a regular audit of ACMA's blacklist of banned web sites.
Source: iTnews Australia
Macquarie calls for intervention on Basslink
Macquarie Telecom has asked the Government to step in and help fund a redundant link between the Victorian landing site for the Basslink cable and Melbourne.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra against bush backbone duplication
Telstra has warned using National Broadband Network funding to provide alternatives to its own rural infrastructure may lead to increased costs and other problems.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Hacker reverse-engineered ACMA blacklist
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) executive has told a Senate Estimates hearing that the alleged leak of its blacklist in March was the result of a hacker "reverse engineering" the filters used by a "Family Friendly" ISP.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Tue, 26th May 2009
Racist, backward: Sol's parting shot
Controversial former Telstra chief Sol Trujillo has taken a swipe at Australia, describing the nation he called home for four years as racist, backward and like "stepping back in time".
Source: SMH
Blackspot millions up for grabs
The federal Government said it may call for tenders for its $250million broadband blackspots program within the week, as Optus and Nextgen Networks confirmed their intentions to bid for the work.
Source: Australian IT
Nextgen won't sell network
The owner of Australia's third-largest fibre broadband network has indicated it will not sell it into the proposed national broadband network.
Source: The Age
Trujillo's got sour grapes: Brumby
Former Telstra chief Sol Trujillo's comments that Australia is racist and backwards are just sour grapes, Victorian Premier John Brumby said today.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Internet filter trials: Smooth sailing with one ISP not started
The majority of ISPs participating in the Federal Government's controversial Internet filter trials report smooth sailing but one is still scrambling to get the service online.
Source: ARN
Telstra loses HFC access battle
Telstra has failed in a bid to exempt rival Optus from accessing its copper network in areas where Optus has its own cable network.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Rudd to pay $11 billion of $43 billion NBN
Communications minister Stephen Conroy has told Senate Estimates hearings that the Government will sink in the vicinity of $11 billion into the National Broadband Network, which is anticipated to cost up to $43 billion.
Source: iTnews Australia
Exetel chief questions cost savings from Pipe cable
Exetel chief John Linton has questioned the cost benefits that early adopters of Pipe International's Sydney-Guam cable might achieve by using the cable over that of competitors like Southern Cross and the Australia-Japan Cable.
Source: iTnews Australia
Net filtering may not be mandatory
The Rudd Government has indicated that it may back away from its mandatory internet filtering plan.
Source: Australian IT
Mon, 25th May 2009
Pipe dream coming true for net users
When cable ship Tyco Durable set off from Sydney's northern beaches to lay a 9000km undersea fibre-optic link to Guam, via Papua New Guinea, last Tuesday, it carried much more than the hopes of its main investor, Pipe International.
Source: Australian IT
Trujillo was a costly mistake for Telstra
We can now conclude that Telstra went backwards during the Trujillo era, and that the board's decision in June 2005 to sack Ziggy Switkowski and install a team of expensive Americans to run the company was a mistake.
Source: ZDNet Australia
Telstra offers relief package for flood victims
Telstra has announced it will waive fees and offer free call diversions and cheaper mobile call prices to flood victims in Southern Queensland and Northern NSW.
Source: iTnews Australia
Telstra stays mum over ACCC call for structural separation
Telstra (ASX: TLS) is staying mum over calls by Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman, Graeme Samuel, for the telco to be structurally separated.
Source: ARN