Broadband News

Thu, 13th Aug 2020

Government sets bidding limits for next 5G spectrum auction

Bidding limits for Australia’s next 5G spectrum auction, which is scheduled to occur in March 2021, have been announced by the Federal Government.

Source: iTWire

NBN connections climb to 7.4 million with new activations, says ACCC

More than 7.4 million consumers are now connected to the National Broadband Network after the activation of 383,257 new services in the three months to the end of June, according to the competition regulator, the ACCC.

Source: iTWire

Wed, 12th Aug 2020

Vodafone offering 50GB for $35, new home wireless plans, and bundle discounts

Vodafone just dropped a whole bunch of plan changes. Here's what you need to know.

Source: WhistleOut

Superloop CEO Drew Kelton signals exit

Superloop has turned to former NBN Co enterprise boss Paul Tyler to replace its outgoing CEO Drew Kelton.

Source: ARN

NBN migration pushes SD-WAN take up in Australian market ahead of other markets, says analyst

Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) has taken off quicker in Australia than some other markets partly due to the migration of “last-mile access” to the National Broadband Network (NBN), according to a new analyst report.

Source: iTWire

Optus offers Victorians free UEFA Champions Trophy football stream

Singtel Optus will make its Optus Sport broadcast available free of cost to all Victorians to watch the UEFA Champions Trophy football championship which kicks off at 4.45am AEDT on Saturday.

Source: iTWire

Tue, 11th Aug 2020

BSA faces class action suit over telco contractor workforce

BSA, a supplier of technical services to the likes of NBN Co and Optus, said it will “vigorously defend” a class action lawsuit filed over the way it allegedly assembled its technician workforce.

Source: iTnews Australia

NBN Co used extra $700m CapEx in final year of 'initial build'

NBN Co’s capital expenditure for the past year came in $700 million above forecasts, money the company said it brought forward from future years to perform network upgrades and connect up more premises during COVID.

Source: iTnews Australia

After 10 years of angst, NBN's big milestone has come in the nick of time

Ten years after it connected its first customer the national broadband is complete with 99 per cent of premises now ready to connect.

Source: SMH

NBN Co losses shrink as revenue climbs

The builder of the national broadband network, NBN Co has made a some improvements across its financial metrics for the financial year ending June 30.

Source: ARN

Mon, 10th Aug 2020

Telstra to upgrade Tasmania’s emergency radio network

Telstra is to carry out a massive overhaul of Tasmania’s public radio network for its emergency services over the next three years.

Source: ARN

Telco contractor accused of ripping off up to 2,000 technicians

BSA Ltd, a company whose technicians carry out work on behalf of Foxtel, Optus and NBN Co, is accused of sham contracting in a class action potentially involving more than 2,000 workers.

Source: ABC News

Thu, 06th Aug 2020

ACCC to expand digital battle to online marketplaces and private messaging services

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be expanding its digital platforms probe beyond the currently targeted Facebook and Google to look at digital marketplaces and private messaging services as well.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Wed, 05th Aug 2020

Telstra sells Vic data centre complex for $416M

Telstra has sold its data centre complex in Clayton, Victoria, for $416.7 million to Centuria Industrial REIT.

Source: ARN

Tue, 04th Aug 2020

Prices going up for Aussie Broadband NBN 100 customers

Aussie Broadband has increased its NBN 100 plan prices, and and existing customers will soon need to pay more.

Source: WhistleOut

NBN Co shows distribution of Sky Muster premises within 25km of Adelaide GPO

NBN Co has provided for the first time the distribution of premises within 25km of the Adelaide GPO that are mapped to receive a Sky Muster satellite service.

Source: iTnews Australia

Govt calls on telco providers for rural voice services trials

​The federal government is calling on telecommunications carriage service providers to get involved in its Alternative Voice Services Trials program

Source: ARN

Australia bucks trend as global broadband speeds plunge with COVID-19 lockdown

Global broadband speeds have dropped significantly during COVID-19 lockdown periods, according to a new report which reveals that Australia bucked the global trend with a small rise in measured speed of +5.38% during its lockdown period.

Source: iTWire

Mon, 03rd Aug 2020

Telstra aiming 5G coverage at 75% of population by June 2021

Telstra CEO Andy Penn said on Monday the telco intends to have 75% of the population covered by its 5G footprint by June 2021.

Source: ZDNet Australia

What is the truth about 5G? Four Corners spoke to leading experts and anti-5G activists to find out

The global rollout of 5G has spawned wild conspiracy theories, and the coronavirus pandemic was the perfect environment for them to spread. Four Corners has investigated these claims and examined the science around whether the technology is a threat to our health.

Source: ABC News

Sun, 02nd Aug 2020

Telstra DNS falls over after denial of service attack

Customers with Telstra's default DNS settings found themselves seemingly unable to access the internet on Sunday morning, as the telco was facing a denial of service attack.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Fri, 31st Jul 2020

Department says 'vast majority' of FttN lines to get 25Mbps speeds in December

With the 18-month period of co-existence -- where fibre-to-the-node (FttN) infrastructure also needs to support legacy services over copper, such as ADSL -- coming to an end across Australia, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications has said it expects the "vasty majority" of FttN connections to hit the minimum 25Mbps speed on the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Source: ZDNet Australia

Thu, 30th Jul 2020

TPG wins again in $20 prepayment stoush with ACCC

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has lost a full federal court appeal over the validity of a $20 “prepayment” charged by TPG Internet.

Source: iTnews Australia

Court dismisses watchdog’s appeal over TPG ‘prepayment’ case

​The Australian competition watchdog has lost its appeal against TPG Internet in relation to the marketing and sale of some prepaid internet, home telephone and mobile plans.

Source: ARN

Wed, 29th Jul 2020

Telstra positions over-provisioned NBN downlink as a speed boost 'freebie'

NBN Co will finish over-provisioning downlinks on most fixed line services by the end of this month, although at least one retailer is already marketing the change to customers as a “freebie” speed boost.

Source: iTnews Australia

Bravo ACCC: Telstra begins flogging NBN overprovisioning as 15% speed boost

Anyone with a passing knowledge of how networking layers work, combined with a tiny amount of experience on how capitalism and marketing operates, could see that NBN overprovisioning would lead to a hell of a lot of spin from Australia's telcos.

Source: ZDNet Australia

Optus shows Sydney its vision of future of shopping

Telco Singtel Optus has demonstrated its vision of what the future of shopping would look like, with an augmented reality technology showcase being demonstrated at Westfield Eastgardens in Sydney's south-east.

Source: iTWire

Telco Call centres hit hard by COVID 19, impacts phone, Internet consumers

The first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw Australian telco call centres affected by global lockdowns leading to consumers being unable to contact their provider to report their phone or Internet complaints, according to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).

Source: iTWire

How Google harvests and uses your data, and what you can do about it

Google is in the news again for its data-collecting practices after being sued by the ACCC. Here's what you should know.

Source: SMH

Tue, 28th Jul 2020

Editor's Pick: Best Satellite NBN Plans July 2020

Looking for the best value Satellite NBN plan? We share our recommendations for great Satellite plans each month.

Source: WhistleOut